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Candle-Lighting to Highlight Duterte-Cayetano Rally in Davao City

PRESS RELEASE

15 March 2016

Candle-lighting to highlight 

Duterte-Cayetano rally in Davao City

DAVAO CITY—This is one big event the people of Davao have been waiting for.

In what is considered the biggest political event in Davao history, the city and its people are expected to come out in droves today for the grand rally to support the tandem of  Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and Senate Majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano. 

The gathering at the Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue starting at 4 p.m. will actually cap an eventful day as March 16 also marks the 79th founding anniversary of Davao City.

A candle-lighting ceremony will highlight the rally dubbed “Kahayag sa Pagbag-o” where Dabawenyos are encouraged to go out of their homes or open their windows and light a candle for the Duterte and Cayetano tandem. 

The activity’s theme is consonant with the agenda of Duterte and Cayetano, to end the disorder and bring genuine change in the country.

Duterte has vowed to stop illegal drugs, criminality and corruption in the first three to six months of his term if he wins the presidency in the May national elections.

Since the campaign period started last February 9, Duterte has been busy on the campaign trail trying to cover more grounds, although he has yet to hold a rally in his beloved Davao. Cayetano will join the tough-talking mayor in the said event. 

The stage is finally set today, and it will be extra special as the city is also celebrating Araw ng Davao.

Earlier in the day, City Hall will hold the annual civic parade called “Parada Dabawenyo” and to be attended by government officials led by City Administrator Jesus Melchor V. Quitain and heads of the different line agencies and sectoral representatives.

The city’s law enforcement agencies like the Davao City Police Office and Task Force Davao are also expected to join the Parada and showcase their might and capabilities before the Dabawenyos.

It can be recalled that Davao is Duterte’s Exhibit A in his presidential run, having presented and promoted the city’s meaningful legislation and accomplishments to the public.

Meanwhile, organizers of the twin activities have assured the public that the Parada Dabawenyo will not be hampered by the Duterte-Cayetano political rally.

Duterte/Cayetano: Day 3 on Bank Secrecy Challenge

PRESS RELEASE

16 March 2016

"Day 3 on bank secrecy challenge"

Call to open bank accounts gains ground, Cayetano draws similarities between Binay's ill-gotten wealth and $81-M money laundering scheme

The call of vice presidential bet Senate Majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano for fellow candidates to open their bank accounts as part of their commitment to transparency continued to gain ground. This was after the administration's presidential candidate, former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas signified intention to make public his bank records.

Cayetano welcomed Roxas' statement but urged him to prove his sincerity by immediately signing the manifesto they prepared pledging to open all bank accounts in local and foreign currencies, both here and abroad. Roxas agreed to open his accounts after Duterte and Cayetano wrote a letter to them urging them to sign the waiver.

"I welcome the response of Sec. Roxas to our challenge. Since 2007, when I scrutinized the bank accounts of then first gentlemen Mike Arroyo, I already called for the lifting of the bank secrecy provisions of the Bank Secrecy Law for public officials. I'm glad that the administration is finally with me on this issue," Cayetano said.

"Extremely similar"

Meanwhile, amid the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation into the $81 million money-laundering operation involving the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Cayetano drew attention to Binay’s own “money-laundering scheme” using the same bank.

Cayetano cited an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report where Gerardo Limlingan, an alleged dummy of Binay, had transactions with the RCBC amounting to P3.1 billion. The senator said Limlingan’s transactions alone are equivalent to $68.1 million or just $12.6 million short of the $81 million allegedly withdrawn from Bangladesh’s bank account in the United States.

The one-page portion of the report Cayetano distributed to the media showed that Limlingan had one transaction of P2 Billion, and two transactions of P500 Million through the RCBC, the same bank in question in the ongoing Senate probe.

"The similarities are extreme. Like Binay's ill-gotten wealth, the same bank is involved on both cases. Both involved dummy accounts. And unscrupulous people are hiding behind the same banking law. The only difference is, Binay doesn't need hackers to amass ill-gotten wealth," Cayetano said. "I hope the government has the same enthusiasm in holding the vice presindent and his accomplices accountable for stealing from Filipinos as it now has in probing the $81-million money-laundering scheme," he added.

Day 3: Still Duterte and Cayetano

The duo signed a manifesto committing to open their bank accounts and challenged all candidates to do the same. To date, only Duterte and Cayetano are the only candidates who have actually signed the document.