Former Pres. Aquino and other officials under his term face plunder complaint.
AQUINO – Former Pres. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, former Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas, and several officials are facing plunder complaint over an alleged shipment of gold bars.
Since then, former Pres. Aquino and former DILG Sec. Roxas are political allies. The two were even running mates in a previous election. However, Roxas was not able to secure the vice presidential post.
It was former Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay who led the vice presidential race and went out as the victor. Former Pres. Aquino then, later on, appointed Roxas as the Secretary of DILG after former Interior Sec. Jesse Robredo passed away due to a plane crash.
Recently, a news report in ABS-CBN News stated that former Pres. Aquino, former Interior Sec. Roxas, and several officials are facing complaint of plunder due to the alleged shipment of gold bars to Thailand.
Based on the report, the other officials under the term of former Pres. Aquino who were also included in the complaint were Sen. Leila De Lima who was the Department of Justice Secretary under former Pres. Aquino, Sen. Franklin Drilon, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco, and former Finance Sec. Cesar Purisima.
It was Rogelio Cantoria and Atty. Fernando Perito who filed the charge against the officials. Cantoria claimed that from 1976 until 1995, he has worked at the BSP according to the news report.
Perito and Cantoria claimed that 3,500 metric tons in gold bars were transferred by the officials to Centennial Energy Company Ltd. which is in Thailand from a Switzerland bank to secure the bank notes’ printing.
Perito and Cantoria said that the value of the gold bars that were allegedly transferred could reach up to P6.8 trillion according to the report.
Furthermore, it is entailed in the report that in the complaint, former Interior Sec. Roxas was identified as ‘nutrition and local government’ secretary while the lady senator was identified as the secretary of finance.
Former Interior Sec. Roxas is the contender of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential election while Sen. De Lima is one of the most vocal critics of the 71-year-old Chief Executive.
In a previous news report, it is stated that the lady senator has even received an international award from a prominent magazine for standing up against Pres. Duterte. She was recognized as one of the 100 Foreign Policy Global Thinkers based on the report.