Sep 092017
 

ILLEGAL DRUG SHIPMENT PROBE CONTINUES: Senator Richard Gordon (middle), chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, together with Senators Panfilo Lacson (left) and Antonio Trillanes IV (right) listen to the testimonies of resource persons during the continuation of the Senate inquiry Thursday, September 07, 2017, on the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs into the country. The probe was prompted by the discovery in Valenzuela City of 600 kilos of shabu or metamphetamine hydrochloride from China, which were reportedly hidden in printer rolls and entered the country through the “green lane” of the BOC. (MNS photo)

MANILA, Sept 7 (Mabuhay) – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV alleged during a Senate probe on Thursday that presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte had P104 million in at least two bank accounts.

Trillanes made the accusation as he quizzed Duterte during the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on his alleged accounts at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in Davao City.

Duterte repeatedly refused to confirm owning any accounts in the said banks.

“Mr. Chair, do I have to answer this irrelevant question?” Duterte said, responding to Trillanes’ queries.

“I refuse to answer anymore,” Duterte added. “This is not part of the inquiry.”

At one point Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee asked the presidential son if he was invoking his right against self incrimination, to which Duterte answered in the affirmative.

“Which part of the question will incriminate you?” Trillanes asked Duterte.

“Ito bang total na P104 million dito sa mga accounts ninyo. ‘Yung deposits mo as of 2015 November, I’m sure lumaki na ‘yan kasi may Davao Group na eh. Anong masasabi mo d’yan?” Trillanes added.

“I refuse to answer,” Duterte said.  (MNS)

Jul 142013
 
MPTC allots P3 B for road construction

MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), a unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), has set a P3-billion capital expenditure program for its road construction projects this year. MPTC president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez, in an interview with The STAR on the sidelines of the 6th NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) Tara Na sa Norte Tourism and Travel Fair, said a big chunk of the budget, or P1.7 billion, would go to the Segment 9 project which involves a 2.4-kilometer stretch from Valenzuela City to MacArthur Highway. The project is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Fernandez said these expansion projects would promote tourism, particularly in the northern part of Luzon where most of their facilities are located. MPTC unit Manila North Tollway Corp. (MNTC) operates the 84-kilometer NLEX and was recently awarded by the state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) the right to operate and maintain the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTex) for 33 years. “Our educated guess is that tourism has been playing a good part in the traffic increase in NLEX through the years,” he said. For the first half, traffic volume at NLEX rose five percent to an average 172,000 vehicles daily compared to the same period in 2012. The five percent growth is expected to be sustained by the end of the year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Fernandez said this is significantly higher or double the historical growth of two to four percent Read More …