PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday sidestepped the question on who was the millionaire who gave him campaign contributions during the May elections.
In a television interview, Duterte was asked who the politician was who gave him lots of donations that he later donated to the village executives in Davao City.
He said Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos also gave him money during the election campaign, but it had been very little.
Imee claimed that what he gave Duterte was “empanada and softdrinks.”
When Duterte was asked again about the influential businessmen who gave him money, Duterte did not answer.
When the news anchor asked if it was Lucio Tan, Dutere insisted that he would resign if he received money from the tycoon.
Asked if the big businessman would appear in his statement of contributions and expenditures, Duterte said the businessman always gave him campaign contributions.
In a separate interview, Duterte confirmed that his friend and long-time campaign contributor, Davao businessman Samuel Uy, joined a meeting between him and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October.
But he said business was not discussed in the meeting.
“We never talked about business, mining,” Duterte said in a Rappler online interview.
He said Uy had been a long-time family friend.