Malacanang photo of Pres. Duterte’s first family at his inauguration June 30, 2016. Presidential son-in-law Atty. Manases Carpio is at extreme left and presidential son Paolo, second from the right.
The saying “A fish is caught by its mouth” applies to President Duterte on the issue of the alleged involvement of his son, Davao City Mayor Paolo Duterte, and his son-in-law, Atty. Manases Carpio in the release without inspection by the Bureau of Customs of a shipment containing 604 kilos of shabu worth P6.2 billion last May.
Duterte told reporters Sunday, “Ang advice ko kay Pulong? Punta ka doon. And then pagdating mo, dun sa questions, sabihin mo, ‘I will not answer you.’ I’m invoking my right of silence kasi noong eleksyon pa, hindi pa Presidente tatay ko, binibira mo na kami. So if you want evidence, do not get it from the mouth of other people. Go somewhere else.”
26-year old customs broker Mark Taguba at the Senate hearing Aug. 31.
Last Friday, 26-year old customs broker Mark Taguba, through lawyer Raymond Fortun, released the following statement:
“I have been informed of the circulation of fake news that have been deviously spread on social media relative to my testimony at the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing of the Philippine Senate yesterday (31st august 2017).
“I wish to categorically make it clear that:
1) I had never testified, nor will I ever testify that Vice-Mayor Paolo Dterte and/or Atty. Manse Crpio were involved in the shipment of illegal drugs into the country. Neither have i testified, nor will I ever testify that the aforementioned individuals were involved in the “tara system” that was in-place at the Bureau of Customs.
2) The names of Vice-Mayor Duterte and/or Atty. Manases Carpio were merely mentioned by the “Davao group” whose direct contacts to me were ‘Tita nannie’ and ‘Jack’. As I had repeatedly stated before Congress and the Senate, the alleged involvement of the aforementioned individuals are hearsay in nature.
3) At no time have I met either Vice-Mayor Dterte or Atty. Carpio in person, much less discuss any illegal transaction at the bureau of customs with them.
4) To this day, I contest that the container that my company caused to be released on May 24,2017 contained the 605 kilograms of shabu. As I have repeatedly testified, the contents of the container (otherwise known as the “packing list”) which was duly certified to be correct by the port of Xiamen under the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement will reflect that it only contained general household items and not the five (5) cylinders where the shabu was discovered.
“I am making this statement to clear Vice-mayor Paolo Duterte and Atty. Manse Carpio from any involvement in the shipment of illegal drugs into the country, and any anomalies in the Bureau of Customs. I also hereby apologize to Vice-Mayor Duterte, Atty. Carpio and to the first family for the proliferation of fake news arising out of my testimony at the senate yesterday.”
It was obvious in Thursday’s Senate Blue Ribbon hearing on the 604 kilos of shabu that slipped through the watch of the Bureau of Customs under then Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, that Committee Chair Sen. Richard Gordon does not want the truth to come out since the trail was leading to the direction of the Davao Group which allegedly involves not only presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte but also presidential son-in-law lawyer Mans Carpio.
During the hearing, it was very noticeable that Gordon was soft on Davao Councilor Nilo “Small” Abellera, a very good friend of Paolo, who admitted having met Customs broker Mark Taguba and a certain Jack in a restaurant in Davao City.
Taguba claimed that in the Davao meeting, he gave P5 million to Abellera as “enrolment fee” for the Davao group that facilitates release of shipment at the Bureau of Customs. He gave the money in Abellera’s car after they had lunch. They again met in the evening at a restobar.
Taguba said Abellera complained about another customs broker who reneged on their agreement. The councilor denied Taguba’s narration of the meeting saying they met only in the evening.He also denied receiving money from Taguba.
The reason for the Davao meeting of Customs broker Mark Taguba Davao City Councilor Noli “Small” Abellera.
Once again, we are seeing proof of the saying that truth will find its way out, however one tries to block it.
We are referring to the Paolo Duterte- Charlie Tan drug connection.
Paolo is the son of President Duterte and is the vice mayor of Davao City. Charlie Tan, according to news reports, is a Taiwanese businessman who does a lot of business in Davao.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s privilege speech last Wednesday on the corruption at the Bureau of Customs was indeed explosive. As Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said, Lacson’s speech “has exposed more actionable information regarding corruption in BOC compared to Sen. Richard Gordon’s endless hours of monologue and one-man show hearings.” Sen. Ping Lacson delivering his expose of corruption in the Bureau of Customs. Photo from pinglacson.net
Screeshot of ext messages between Tita Nani and Marc Taguba from Taguba’s mobile phone presented at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
Paolo Duterte’s name cropped up once again in Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the 604 kilos of shabu worth P6.4 billion that slipped through the watch of the Bureau of Customs last May.
Paolo Duterte,vice mayor of Davao City is the son of President Duterte. His name appeared in a text message between customs broker Mark Taguba and a certain “Tita Nani”, said to be also “brokering” between brokers and the powerful groups that make things happen at the BOC. Taguba mentioned also the name of Davao City councillor Nilo “Small” Abellera, known to very close to Paolo.
Here are the relevant portions of the transcript of yesterday’s hearing:
