President Rodrigo Duterte is gloating on his ability to strike fear in the hearts of oligarchs whom he accused of controlling the country’s political landscape for decades and dodging payment on billions of pesos in taxes.
“The rich ones there in Manila, the elitist, I made them pay. They got mad because when I became President, they lost everything. I made them pay billions, all of them,” said Duterte in a speech in Cebu.
Duterte’s attacks on the rich have been a recurring theme in his speeches.
In a speech in Qatar last year, Duterte aid : “‘Yung mga mayaman, talagang kalaban ko ‘yan. Sabihin na ninyo na inggit ako sa inyo, totoo ‘yan, putang ina kayo pero magbayad kayo.”
“Kaya inggit ako na galit sa inyo. Bakit ‘di ako maiinggit? Yumayaman kayo nang yumayaman ‘di naman kayo bumabayad ng taxes,” he added.
Among the rich people whose lives were made miserable by Duterte were:
* Former Marcos Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin who was forced to selling his controlling stake in an online gaming company
* Marcos crony Lucio Tan whom Duterte accused of owing the government P30 billion in unpaid taxes. Duterte forced Tan to pay out P6 billion in unpaid dues his Philippine Airlines had amassed since the 1990s.
* Rufino-Prieto family was forced to vacate the Mile Long Arcade in Makati which they had occupied since the Marcos years under threat from Duterte. Last January, the Prietos were charged with a P1 billion tax evasion for their Dunkin’ Donuts franchise.
Source : http://politics.com.ph/kulang-kita-sa-security-agency-calida-allowances-bloated-by-800-coa/
