(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at the people he called “oligarchs” of the country, saying they were his “enemies” who had “nothing else to do but sit and use their influences.”
Speaking to around 7500 Filipinos at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Saturday, Duterte said based on information he received, for instance, the owner of Inquirer purchased a piece of land from the government in Makati under a “sweetheart deal.”
The Inquirer is owned by the Prieto family.
Duterte said the deal was made possible because the media organization then “went for Cory (Aquino)” and not for Ferdinand Marcos.
“Kalkalin ko iyan,” he said.
He said apart from this, the owner of Inquirer who also owns Dunkin Donuts, was given an assessment of more than P1 billion in back taxes.
“Inikot ng inikot. Pabalik ng pabalik. Pagdating kay Henares, P8 million, they were assessed,” Duterte said, referring to Kim Henares, head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, Duterte’s predecessor.
The President also lashed out at ABSCBN, which he said accepted his money but never ran his advertisement on TV.
“Kayo (Inquirer), pati ABSCBN, mukhang pera kayo,” he said, pointing out that this ran counter to the “righteousness and morality” they aim to portray in their reports.
Duterte also called out businessman Roberto Ongpin, who he said was also given a “concession” under Cory Aquino’s time.
“Since then until now, one percent lang (ang binabayaran niya na taxes). Everybody’s paying 10 percent,” he said.
Lucio Tan, owner of companies such as Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery, Inc., and Philippine Airlines, Inc., Duterte said, also has to pay the government P30 billion worth of taxes.
He noted that “up to almost the last day” of the campaign for the May 2016 elections, Tan had “chased after” him because the businessman wanted to give him money.
“I said I do not accept (it),” Duterte said.
“Yan ang mga oligarchs. Mga mayaman na mga p—– i— na wala na ginawa kundi umupo lang tapos gamitin ang impluwensiya,” he said.
“Mga mayaman talagang mga kalaban ko kayo. Yumayaman kayo ng yumayaman, di kayo nagbabayad ng taxes,” he added, noting that he would “only protect” the poor.
Duterte was on official visits to Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia since Monday.