Had Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo read my column last Monday on President Duterte receiving cash gifts in millions of pesos on the 69th birthday, he should not have denied what the President has admitted a long time ago.
In his press briefing Aug. 19, ABS-CBN’s Pia Gutierrez asked for his comment on my column titled “Duterte gets gifts in multi-million pesos.”
I wrote that “On his 69th birthday, on March 28, 2014, seven deposits totalling P193,705,615.88 were credited to the joint account of then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his daughter Sara Z. Duterte in BPI, Julia Vargas branch in Ortigas Center. The first was in the amount of P55,131,747.32, followed by P41,721,035.62. Then four deposits in the amount of P20,000,000.00 each came in. The last deposit for the day was in the amount of P16,852,832.94.”