Duterte vows to resign if allegations of bank deposits proven

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would resign if Senator Antonio Trillanes IV can prove that he had, at one time, $40.06 million worth of bank deposits, a media report said on Friday.

"If Trillanes can prove his allegation that I have amassed pesos illegally or if that bank account under my name has a total deposit at one time of even just half a billion, I will resign as President immediately," Duterte said in a taped video released on Thursday night.

Duterte denied the allegations of the Senator and branded it as "old" and "rehashed", Xinhua news agency reported.

He said he had already answered the allegations before he became president, referring to the bank deposits that he supposedly had at a branch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands that Trillanes alleged during the campaign period.

He said despite the allegations, 16 million people still voted for him and placed him in the office.

The President also defended his family and their respective sources of income, saying that they have their respective businesses and professions that help generate income and savings.

Duterte said his partner Honeylet Avancena for instance has a donut business that she had been running for the past 18 years apart from being a meat supplier to five malls in Davao.

He also defended her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio whom he said is a practicing lawyer who had actual clients that paid for her services.

--IANS

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