PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday continued his attack against media firms critical of his presidency, this time accusing ABS-CBN of committing estafa when it refused to air his political advertisements during the campaign.
“ABS-CBN, they committed estafa. ABS-CBN accepted my money during the latter part of the campaign, the only time when I received money is when I hit [high numbers in the ratings.] Before, I don’t have anything to pay for,” Duterte said before leaving for the Middle East.
“So when I got the money from well-meaning supporters, I bought air time … but the advertisement never ran. I paid. There’s not even an offer of you ABS to return my money.”
“Do you know what is the crime? I’ll tell you, it’s very simple, estafa. Tinanggap mo ‘yung pera ko, hindi ninyo in-air. It’s estafa.”
Duterte likewise accused the Prieto family, who owns the Philippine Daily Inquirer, of evading their tax liabilities after “fixing” with former Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares, an appointee of the previous administration.
In making the accusation, Duterte first identified the supposed son-in-law of the Prietos, former Film Development Council of the Philippines chairman Briccio Santos, a former husband of a Prieto relative who allegedly received compensation that was higher than that of the country’s leading educators.
“Like Inquirer, ‘yung anak niyang si Briccio. [Bong, pahingi ng kopya.] He was receiving more than the President of salary of everybody DAP or UP. Two million eight… Anak ito, asawa…. Ang asawa nito anak ni Prieto,” he said.
“Ni wala akong narinig sa Inquirer na hindi maganda ‘yung nangyari. Tapos ‘yung taxes ninyo, nilakad ni Henares, it ended up wala kayong ibinayad.”
Duterte has criticized the Inquirer and broadcast giant ABS-CBN for their supposed biased coverage and calling the families who own them “oligarchs.” The Inquirer has denied Duterte’s allegations while ABS-CBN has not responded to his tirades.