Palace downplays Duterte photos with exec of another firm mentioned in Senate probe

Malacañang on Friday downplayed the photos of President Rodrigo Duterte with another Chinese businessman who allegedly chairs one of the firms that supplied medical goods to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (PS-DBM).

At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said as a public official, Duterte regularly receives requests for photo opportunities.

"Public officials are public figures. Kahit sino nagpapa-picture sa kanila, especially now na napakaraming cellphone [people want photos with them, especially now that camera phones are widely used]," Roque said.

During Thursday's hearing by the Senate blue ribbon committee on the Department of Health's allegedly questionable transactions with PS-DBM, Senator Risa Hontiveros showed pictures of Duterte having a meeting with Wang Min, who allegedly chaired the Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG). She said the photos were taken in 2017.

Hontiveros questioned why XCMG became a supplier of medical supplies to PS-DBM even though it is a construction company.

But according to Roque, there is nothing much about the photos.

"Wala pong dapat i-conclude [There should not be any conclusion]. A photo cannot prove a relationship," he said as he accused Hontiveros of being "too imaginative."

Roque likewise dismissed Senator Richard Gordon's claims that Duterte is protecting the Chinese suppliers of PS-DBM, including XCMG, which allegedly are not paying proper taxes despite bagging a handful of government contracts.

It was revealed during the same Senate hearing that XCMG has no tax records.

"He has no evidence. Those are just tall tales," Roque said of Gordon, who chairs the blue ribbon committee.

"Do not worry. Hindi natutulog sa pansitan ang BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue). Kung talagang may kailangang habulin [na pera], hahabulin natin 'yan," he added.

(BIR is not sleeping on the job. If there are taxes to be collected, we will go after them and collect it.) —KBK, GMA News