Malacañang on Saturday said there may be no more need to summon the President’s son and son-in-law to the Senate inquiry on the smuggling of a P6.4-billion shabu (slang for methamphetamine) shipment from China that slipped past the Manila port.
This after customs broker Mark Taguba on Friday cleared President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, and his son-in-law Manse Carpio of alleged links to corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Taguba even branded as “fake news” claims of Duterte’s and Carpio’s involvement and clarified that he had never testified against the two.
“With Mark Ruben Taguba II’s statement clearing Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Atty. Manases Carpio from involvement in the BOC smuggling issue, there may be no reason for the Senate investigative panel to call the two individuals to attend any hearing in Manila, although they have indicated willingness to testify,” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
Abella, however, clarified that the Duterte administration respects the Senate’s independence. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is in the middle of a legislative inquiry into the controversial shipment, which has bared deeply entrenched corruption at the BOC.
“The legislature is a co-equal branch of government, and the Executive branch respects the Senate’s independence. We trust its wisdom on this matter,” he said.
Taguba had previously testified that the younger Duterte and Carpio, husband of his sister Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, were “name-dropped” by individuals who had paid “grease money” to Customs officials for the release of shipments of illegal drugs.
The Vice Mayor dismissed Taguba’s earlier claims as hearsay.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a fierce critic of the Duterte administration, had also accused Carpio of having transactions with the BOC, citing his appearances at the bureau.
But Carpio, a lawyer, explained that he had clients with transactions at the BOC, and twitted Trillanes for imputing malice.
On Friday, President Duterte defended his son and son-in-law from Trillanes’ allegations, describing his fierce critic’s evidence as “trash.”
