PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday clarified that the cash gift from local cigarette company Mighty Corporation was given to him when he was still mayor of Davao City.
At the sideline of the Department of Agriculture’s event held at the Palace’s Rizal Hall, Duterte said he initially thought the gift was just a wine but was surprised that the box contained money.
He said the cash gift could not be considered as a bribe but admitted that the Mighty Corporation’s owner Alexander Wonchuking had asked a favor from him.
After seeing the cash, Duterte said he had instructed his trusted aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, to return the money.
“When I was mayor, he did not say anything and just left [the money]. He was asking favor but I said I am not into it. When he stood up, he left [the cash gift]. But it’s not bribery because he did not say anything,” the President said in a chance interview.
“[The gift] looks like gratis. I asked Bong to run after him. I thought it was a bottle [of wine], I will accept it because I do not drink and will just give it [to someone]. But when my aide looked at it, it has the money. I said, ‘Chase that stupid one. And he was able to locate him at the airplane in Davao,” he added.
Duterte made the clarification after Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo earlier said Wonchuking attempted to bribe the President.
The President also confirmed that he had ordered Wonchuking’s arrest, in connection with the confiscated smuggled and fake cigarettes, including the fake tax stamps affixed on Mighty products.
He, however, said the arrest order has nothing to do with the supposed bribe attempt.
“Bribe me?... No, nobody will do that to me,” Duterte said. “Yes, I ordered his arrest. He’s the one behind it – the fixed cigarrete stamps. It’s not a metter of BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue’s) tax loss. It’s falsification.” (VoxPop Philippines)
