By Darryl John Esguerra
MANILA – Malacañang on Monday dismissed former president Rodrigo Duterte’s allegations that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is involved in selling the country’s gold reserves, calling them “baseless” and accusing the former leader of spreading “intrigues.”
In her first press briefing as Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary, lawyer Claire Castro criticized Duterte’s claims and urged the public to question the validity of such unverified statements.
“Hindi ba ito campaign joke ulit ni dating Pangulong Duterte? Hindi pa ba tayo nasanay dun sa jetski promise niya? (Isn’t this another campaign joke by the former president Duterte? Didn’t we learn already from his jetski promise?),” Castro said.
The newly appointed Palace official was referring to the former president’s controversial 2016 campaign promise about riding a jetski to assert Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
Castro suggested that Duterte might not fully understand the operations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and questioned whether he consulted economic expert before making such serious accusations.
“Wala ba siyang economic experts na magsasabi sa kanya kung ano ba talaga ang regular activities ng BSP (Did he ask economic experts what the regular activities of the central bank
are)?” she asked.
She pointed out that the country’s gold reserves are exclusively managed by the BSP, following established protocols designed to strengthen the nation’s financial stability.
“Hindi niya ba alam iyon (Doesn’t he know that)?” Castro added.
Castro also challenged Duterte to provide concrete evidence to support his claims.
“Laging pa-intriga (He’s all about intrigues). All we want here is evidence. Ipakita niya (Show your evidence),” she urged.
Duterte made the accusations during a campaign rally in Cebu on Saturday, where he also criticized the Marcos administration on several fronts.
Among his claims was that drug problems had resurfaced, including in his hometown Davao City.
In response, Castro questioned the leadership of Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte, the former president’s son, and challenged the former leader to show the data to back his claims.
“Ibig ba sabihin nun napaka-inefficient ng anak niya? Again, nasaan ang data patungkol dito (Does this mean that his son is inefficient? Again, where are the data to back up this claim)?,” she said. (PNA)
