Duterte explains source of wealth to counter accusations
DAVAO CITY: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte offered a glimpse into the source of his and his family's wealth to counter accusations that he hid ill-gotten funds.
He claimed he and his siblings made "millions" selling inherited land and cutting trees. On Friday, Mr Duterte said they decided to sell off pieces of real estate property they had inherited from their parents because they were already quarrelling over it.
"I was a lawyer then," Mr Duterte said, recalling the time the inherited land was sold.
"But even before that, when I was just a student, fourth year, I already had about 3 million pesos (S$79,650)."
But he did not say where that money came from.
Although Mr Duterte failed to mention how big the piece of property was, those in the know estimated it to be some 2ha.
All the land sold some time in the 1970s were in Talomo District where, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the value of land ranged from a low of 550 pesos per sq m for agricultural lots to a high of 4,500 pesos per sq m for industrial ones.
Applying those rates, the Duterte property in Ulas village would have sold for 90 million pesos. - THE PHILIPPINES DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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