Palace to VERA Files: Prove your allegations of Dutertes’ undeclared wealth are true

Malacañang on Monday "challenged" media organization VERA Files to provide proof that its allegations that President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio have undeclared wealth are true.

At a briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that he could not comment on the report, which he called “hearsay,” alleging the Dutertes failed to declare at least P100 million in joint deposits and investments in their statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), supposedly based on bank records VERA Files obtained.

He said that the media organization could not obtain such documents since bank statements should be confidential.

“The reality says the law says that bank statements are in fact confidential and you need a report or a request from the Anti-Money Laundering Council to get copies of these statements. When VERA Files asked me for my comment, how could I comment when the documents are not authenticated? The whole story hinges on bank documents which they could not have had obtained copies of,” Roque said.

“In the same way that I cannot comment when I asked by VERA, what can I say now? Prove first that the statements are authentic, then I will comment. For now. kwentong kutsero,” he added.

In its report, VERA Files said that its analysis was based on "bank records submitted to Congress and [Duterte and Duterte-Carpio's] annual net worth declarations."

Roque said that Malacañang will comment if the banks tagged in the report attest to the authenticity of the alleged bank records VERA Files published.

“Until such time, kuwentong kutsero, tsismis. I challenge them, come up with certification from the banks that the statements are genuine then we will comment. But it’s really is improper to comment on tsismis. And they will remain tsismis until the banks attest to the truth and veracity of these bank statements,” he said.

In a statement, Duterte-Carpio said that her camp will be prepared to face the court if a case is filed against her.

“I have read the Vera Files report, but there were parts of it that I didn’t quite understand, and there were numbers that were hard to understand, that is why I referred it to my lawyer. My lawyer will review the report thoroughly, but on the surface, it’s the same issue during the election of PRD. However, this time, it’s much more—because there are speculations made in that story,” she said.

“We have already explained this before and my lawyer is ready if ever this reaches the court. The only time that I am bound to answer is when there is a case filed,” she added. — BM, GMA News