Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on July 30 withdrew a unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels after his ultimatum for the group to reciprocate lapsed. AFP Photo
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The head of prominent Philippine online gaming firm Philweb Corp. resigned Thursday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to “destroy” him and accused him of being an oligarch.
Speaking to members of an election watchdog on Wednesday, Duterte called Ongpin an oligarch, saying the company’s chief got rich thanks to his close connections with four previous presidents, including the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Duterte, who has launched a controversial crackdown on crime that has left hundreds dead, called on the country’s legislature to amend the constitution, in part to curb individual influence of wealthy residents over the government.
“My order to the (assembly): Destroy the oligarchs that are embedded in government now. Those are the ones. I’ll give you an example, publicly, in front of the nation: Ongpin, Roberto.”
“These are the guys, who, while sitting inside their planes or their mansions everywhere, are raking in money like taxi metres.”
Ongpin announced his resignation in a disclosure carried by the stock exchange, but did not give a reason for the move.
“I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect as chairman and director of Philweb Corporation and all of its subsidiaries,” read the statement.
Philweb shares had closed 36.88 percent down at 8.95 pesos (19 US cents) after plunging to a year-low of 7.12 pesos earlier in the trading day Thursday.
In a speech at an environmental conference on Friday, Duterte renewed his attacks on oligarchs, saying “these are the people who take the wealth of our nation but don’t spend anything but their saliva and connections”.
Philweb won a government license to launch internet cafés exclusively dedicated to hosting casino games in 2003.
Duterte has previously vowed to fight corruption but his main focus has been a war on crime that has seen the killing of hundreds of suspected drug dealers since he was elected on May 9.
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