No need for Duterte in wealth quiz – Palace

THERE is no need for President Rodrigo Duterte to attend a proposed Senate inquiry into his alleged hidden bank accounts as there is no basis for such allegation, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, had raised the possibility of asking the President to testify before them if the need arises.

But Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the investigation sought by Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th on Duterte’s alleged ill-gotten wealth would just be a waste of time since the opposition lawmaker has no solid proof to back up his allegations. “Kung may dahilan sana, eh kaso nga wala namang authentication iyong mga dokumento, eh bakit natin pag-aaksayahan ng panahon [ If there is really a reason but there are no authenticated documents, why will we waste our time]?” Roque added.

But he said it would be up to the Senate to decide on whether to invite Duterte to the hearing.

In Senate Resolution 602, Trillanes asked the Escudero committee to probe deposits and investments involving the President’s alleged accounts, which he said could show pos- sible violations of the country’s anti- money laundering law.

He has long accused Duterte of failing to disclose his wealth going back to his time as mayor of southern Davao City prior to winning the presidency in May 2016.

Duterte has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and promised to resign if there was proof.

The President has even instructed the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to disclose the transactions but he has still to sign a required waiver for that to happen.

Tr i l l a n e s cited a recent report by VERA Files, which said Duterte and daughter Sara Duterte- Carpio, who succeeded him as Davao mayor, failed to disclose deposits and investments exceeding P100 million in their official asset declarations. Sara denied wrongdoing.

VERA Files said the bank records it saw came from the Senate and were entered into records by Trillanes himself, who claimed the same documents came from the AMLC.

Roque repeatedly dismissed Trillanes’ allegation as “old news.”

“The council had said those documents did not come from them and that the data he was talking about was incorrect,” he said.