'Fixer' claims Davao councilor 'close' to Duterte son got bribe money

Customs "fixer" Mark Taguba on Tuesday confirmed that Davao City councilor Nilo Abellera, Jr. is the “Small” of the so-called “Davao Group” he dealt with in his transactions with the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

During the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs smuggled from China last May, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV showed a photo of Abellera.

Taguba confirmed Abellera was the “Small” he was referring to.

Taguba earlier said aliases Small, Tita Nanie, and Jack are members of the so-called Davao Group.

Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, son of President Rodrigo Duterte, is supposedly behind the said group.

Abellera was one of the resource persons invited by Trillanes to attend the hearing. He was, however, a no-show at the blue ribbon hearing due to hypertension.

Trillanes earlier claimed that Abellera was “close” to Paolo Duterte. The senator also showed several photos of the two.

Taguba said he met Abellera in Davao City last January to hand him P5 million in “enrollment fee.” The fee, he said, would allow his shipments to pass through BOC “without being alerted.”

Thereafter, Taguba said he was required to pay P10,000 per container or an estimated P1-million fee per week. —ALG, GMA News