Manila: A Philippine senator and political opponent of the front-runner in the country’s presidential race filed a corruption complaint on Thursday alleging that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte hired 11,000 non-existent employees whose salaries cost the government 708 million pesos ($15 million 0r Dh55 million)).
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is running for vice-president as an independent candidate, filed the plunder complaint on Thursday with the Ombudsman’s office against the tough-talking mayor, who is leading opinion polls ahead of Monday’s election.
Trillanes has already released leaked documents purportedly showing 2.4 billion pesos ($51 million) flowed into Duterte’s various bank accounts from 2006 to 2015, representing alleged unexplained wealth the mayor failed to declare as required by law.
Duterte denies amassing any ill-gotten wealth. His spokesman, Peter Lavinia, replied to Thursday’s complaint saying Davao City had received a good governance award from the national government in 2015, calling it “positive affirmation compared with trumped-up charges” from Trillanes. Duterte has been a long-time mayor of Davao.
The complaint said the salaries of ghost employees in 2014 cost Davao City’s coffers 708 million pesos and that a 2015 Commission on Audit report questioned the lack of documents to prove that the contractual employees were working.
The next step is for the Ombudsman to investigate the charge, and if it finds proof, a charge will be filed before an anti-graft court.
