(Eagle News) — “The President has nothing to hide.”
This was the reaction of Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella to reports the Ombudsman was probing President Rodrigo Duterte’s bank accounts.
The launch of the probe was in response to a complaint filed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who earlier made the allegations of ill-gotten wealth against the then-Davao mayor when he was still running for the position of the country’s chief executive.
When Duterte won the presidency, however, Trillanes said he would no longer pursue the case, citing the need for peace and unity.
“The President respects the internal processes of the OMB as an independent body and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty,” Abella added.
In a speech on Tuesday, Duterte denied he had millions in his account, as alleged by Trillanes, and that anyone could take a look at his Union Bank account.
He said part of the money he had was from the sale of his family’s real estate properties.
The sale, he said, was done so there would be no in-fighting among his siblings.