Friday, September 28, 2007 Mayor shares Miriam's sentiments on kickbacks By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Thursday said he shares the same furious sentiments of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on the hullabaloo that the statements of former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri said in last Wednesday's Senate inquiry.
Neri admitted that Commissions on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos attempted to bribe him with P200 million for the approval of the ZTE National Broadband Network deal. An offer, according to him, he turned down.
"I'd like to follow the stand of Senator Miriam Santiago," Duterte replied on queries if the Comelec chair ought to resign after he was implicated in an alleged bribery.
During the Senate hearing Wednesday, Santiago walked out of the hearing.
"I resent being made party to this squabble! Pinag-aawayan niyo lang ang kickback ninyo! Inaaksaya niyo ang panahon ng Senado," Santiago said in an outburst prior to her unprecedented exit.
Upon his arrival late Wednesday night from a medical surgery in Manila, the city mayor jokingly said that he would also love to go to China.
"I'd like to go to China also," Duterte said laughing. The mayor is scheduled to fly to Nanning, China sometime in mid-October.
However, Duterte made it clear that his trip to China was a courtesy trip to Nanning, Davao City's sister city in the Mainland. Duterte also said that the trip was purely out of his pocket and not from the public treasury.
"Anyone can come along, provided they pay for their own fare," Duterte said.
