Sara duterte kisses the hand of her father during the IBP Davao chapter oathtaking on September 30, 2017. Malacañang photo by Robinson Niñal.
Take note that in the statements of Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, they were not denying the contents of their bank accounts cited by VERA Files in its special report about the President and his daughter’s undeclared wealth.
They dismissed the story as “hearsay” because they said the bank records, where we based the report, have not been authenticated by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Last Sunday, VERA Files, which I am part of, released its analysis of the bank documents which Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV exposed in April 2016 comparing them with the Duterte father and daughter statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.
Moves in the House of Representatives to insert the words “”responsible exercise” in the freedom of speech part in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights is a revival of the same attempt made by the government of Gloria Arroyo in 2006.
Last week, Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro (Capiz’s second district, informed the House of Representatives’ Committee on Constitutional Amendments of the proposal on Tuesday (January 16).
Castro proposed that Article 3, Section 4 of the Bill of Rights which states “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances ” should be reworded to “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara omitted to fully disclose their joint deposits and investments at the Bank of Philippine Islands, which conservatively exceeded P100 million in some years, when they were mayor and vice mayor of Davao City, our analysis of bank records submitted to Congress and their annual net worth declarations shows.
According to the bank records, Duterte and Sara’s transactions with BPI, initially its Greenhills-EDSA branch and later the Julia Vargas branch, included:
• A P48.17 million placement in 2006 that grew to P55.13 million by 2013
• A P40.55 million investment in 2009 that stood at P41.72 million in 2013
• About $220,000, roughly P10 million, from 2006 to 2012
• The purchase of P80 million in insurance policies in 2014
• A P16.85 million investment begun in 2014
The bank records came from the Senate. Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV entered the documents that he said were from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) into the Senate records on Oct. 3 after delivering a privilege speech saying the president had more than P2.2 billion in questionable bank transactions.
Pres. Duterte receives the credentials of Ambassador-Designate of Malta to the Philippines John Aquilino in Malacañan Palace on January 9, 2017. Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez.
At the birthday party of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez last Friday, President Duterte again justified his being uncouth with the flawed reasoning that he did not study to become a statesman.
“Kaya ugali ko talaga, pang-mayor lang. Nung sinabi nila na hindi ako statesman, hindi naman ako nag-aral pang-statesman (My habits are for being mayor. They say I’m not a statement. I didn’t study to be a statesman.)
Roque captioned this Oct. 2016 photo: “Digong in introducing me:’Si Harry Roque is critical but I like him. He’s hard-hitting and very straight. We need more like him to deal with our problems. He’s a welcome guest to my entourage. He should continue hitting para hindi magkaleche-leche an gating bayan.’”
President Duterte last Sunday at the Masskara Festival in Bacolod City endorsed Kabayan Partylist Representative Harry Roque for senator in the 2019 senatorial elections.
At the start of his speech, he introduced Roque to the Negrenses by asking him to stand up: “ ‘Ti nga kandidato ko ni pagka-Senador, kadtong ngari ko ga…subong ga kampanya na. Wa pa ko nakalimot kay Harry, ha. Ano lang ‘yan. (He’s my candidate for senator. My coming is to… now I’m campaigning. I have not forgotten Harry.)
At that moment, I was texting Harry to verify talks going around that he would be replacing Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella. ( We tried to contact Secretary Abella to confirm this but didn’t get a reply.)
In his desperation to get back at Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, President Duterte resorts to fake news.
In last Thursday’s Senate investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee of the 604 kilos of shabu that slipped through the Bureau of Customs, Trillanes presented bank accounts of presidential son Paolo Duterte, vice mayor of Davao City (totaling P104,2812.165 made in 2011 to 2015) and presidential son-in-law Atty. Manases Carpio (totaling 211,109,236 made in 2003 to 2012). The two neither confirmed nor denied the deposits invoking “right to privacy.”
Last Saturday, in a speech at the closing ceremony of the Mindanao Business Conference, Saturday said Duterte said he will also expose Trillanes’ bank accounts abroad. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte addresses 26th Mindanao Business Conference in Cagayan de Oro City on September 9, 2017. Malacanang photo by Ace Morandante.
Filipinos’ trust in the government dramatically increased in the past two years as church and media, two institutions often lambasted by President Duterte, continued to be regarded highly by the public.
These were part of the findings of the survey conducted by the EON Group from March to April 2017 on the levels and drivers of trust among 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above.
The PTI survey, which EON started in 2012, covered six institutions- Academe, Business, Church, Government, Media, and Non-Government Organizations. All institutions improved its trust ratings with government posting a record leap of 30 percent from 2015’s low trust rating of 50 percent to a high of 80 percent this year.
What’s Duterte’s speech without his trademark slogan, “Putang Ina?”
I’m bit disappointed that he spewed out only nine putang ina in his State-of-the Nation address Monday. That’s way below his usual 20 or so Putang Ina in one speech. And he spoke for two hours!
Pres. Duterte applauded by Senate President Koko Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
In his 2017 SONA, regaled the Filipino people with his own imagined “truths”, telling people of praises that were never uttered and ordering or taking credit for what are already long in place.
During the SONA, VERA Files did a live Fact Check of some of what Duterte said.
Here are some of the items VERA Files came up with:
Pres. Duterte and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. Malacañang photo.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he will be pushing for a five-year extension of Martial Law in Mindanao declared by President Duterte last May 23 and is supposed to end on July 22, two days before he delivers his second State-of-the Nation address.
Alvarez, who has proven himself valuable to Duterte for shepherding a docile House of Representatives to latter’s bidding, said Saturday, ““If I can convince my colleagues, I will push for an extension until 2022, because two months is too short. Five months or one year or two years is too short.”
Alvarez did not say what is needed that cannot be done in normal times, without the sword of Martial Law hanging over Mindanao.
Duterte himself does not seem so eager to lift martial Law in Mindanao. News reports said when he was asked last week if he would lift it before delivers his second SONA on July 24, he replied, “No”.
Of the four members of the Supreme Court who dissented from the majority decision upholding President Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao, three ( Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa) supported him as far as Marawi City was concerned.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. CarpioIn his dissenting opinion, Carpio said, “Without question, the widespread killing of both government forces and innocent civilians, coupled with the destruction of government and private facilities, thereby depriving the whole population in Marawi City of basic necessities and services, endangered the public safety in the whole of Marawi City. Hence, with the concurrence of an actual rebellion and requirement of public safety, the President lawfully exercised his Commander-in-Chief powers to declare martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ in Marawi City.
“However, the same does not apply to the rest of Mindanao. Proclamation No. 216 and the President’s Report to Congress do not contain any evidence whatsoever of actual rebellion outside of Marawi.
“In fact, the Proclamation itself states that the Maute-Hapilon armed fighters in Marawi City intended to remove “this part of Mindanao,” referring to Marawi City, from Philippine sovereignty. The Proclamation itself admits that only ‘this part of Mindanao’ is the subject of separation from Philippine sovereignty by the rebels. The President’s Report did not mention any other city, province or territory in Mindanao, other than Marawi City, that had a similar public uprising by a rebel group, an element of actual rebellion. Thus, the President’s Report concludes that ‘based on various verified intelligence reports from the AFP and the PNP, there exists a strategic mass action of lawless armed groups in Marawi City.’ The President’s Report expressly states that the Maute-Hapilon armed fighters were waging rebellion first in Marawi City as a prelude or “precedent” to waging rebellion in the rest of Mindanao. This is a clear admission that the rebellion was only in Marawi City and had yet to spread to the rest of Mindanao. “
