Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTO
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Mayor Rodrigo Duterte scored Secretary Justice Leila De Lima for failing to build a case around suspected smuggling lord David Tan, which could have easily been done through sworn testimonies from Filipino businessmen who claimed to have known Tan as Davidson Bangayan.
“They have the same address, the same company names, they even have the same lawyers and yet, they’re not the same?” Duterte asked during his Sunday television program Gikan sa masa, para sa masa, reacting to the reports that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) released David Bangayan early this week following the government failure to link him to the alleged smuggling lord David Tan.
“Stop talking, and start working,” Duterte said addressing Justice Secretary De Lima, who earlier insisted that David Bangayan was a businessman from Davao.
“What has the DOJ (Department of Justice) done so far to protect the interest of the national government?” Duterte asked.
“The government is losing 1.3 trillion pesos in three years because of smuggling at wala kayong ginawa, mahiya naman kayo (and you’re not doing anything about it, you should be ashamed),” Duterte said.
Duterte said the Department of Justice (DOJ) could have built a case around Tan, instead of making statements prematurely.
He said De Lima could have zeroed in on the
testimonies of businessmen from the Federation of Philippine Industries
(FPI), get a sworn testimony identifying David Bangayan as the same
person as David Tan, as what they have been claiming, and that would
have served as sufficient ground for arrest.
“But what have you done?” he asked,
addressing De Lima. “You failed to build a case because all you wanted
was publicity, kung ganun kayo kahina (if you’re that slow)…,” Duterte
said, but did not continue.
De Lima specialized in election-related
cases before being appointed to government posts. She did not have a lot
of prosecution cases in her track record.
“Why, you just opened your mouth for
publicity, I’m telling you to stop talking and start working, you walk
your talk and talk your walk,” Duterte said.
Bangayan, who appeared before the NBI to
clear his name, denied being the alleged rice smuggling lord David Tan.
He was arrested for the case of pilferage filed against him by a
Singapore businessman in a Calamba court but the NBI had to release him
because they failed to build a case.
“It doesn’t matter what or how many names
he is using,” Duterte said. “What’s important is you establish the
person’s identity, his persona, and build a case around him,” he said.
He said the corporations and companies were
just being used as dummies in the smuggling activities and the national
government agencies like the DOJ and the NBI must crack down into the
personas behind them.
Saying that Davidson Bangayan has been
confirmed to have come from Tuguegarao in Luzon, and not from Davao, as
De Lima had categorically insisted, Duterte said he saw malice in the De
Lima’s statement describing the smuggling lord as a Davao City
resident.
“I see malice in Secretary De Lima’s statement,” the mayor said.
He also said even the petitioner Joseph Ngo in Davao should be made to appear in court to confirm his existence.
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He also vowed to keep the local government
on the alert against smuggling in Davao, saying that the National Food
Authority (NFA) has been authorized to issue import permits, until the
repeal of the Agriculture Tariffication Act or Republic Act 1878.
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