President Rodrigo Duterte said he could not say no if people wanted to chip in to his presidential campaign last year.
“Alam mo itong Pilipinas pera-pera lang ‘yan eh. Eh wala akong magawa kung may magbigay ng pera sa akin.” said Duterte in a press conference at the Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong Saturday night.
His special assistant, Bong Go, explained that the P3 million hike in his net worth in six months in office was due to excess campaign contributions.
“Sobra ‘yan sa ‘yung dumating na wala ng purpose ang pera. Tapos hindi ko na malaman kung sinu-sino. Maliit ito eh. Iyon ang idineclare ko na as income. Income eh nandiyan sa kamay ko eh,” said Duterte.
Duterte did not answer directly media’s questions on his P3 million bonanza but opted instead to put them off the trail by making up an imaginary sugar mommy as the source of his newfound wealth.
“Alam mo kasi nagkaroon ako ng girlfriend, parang sugar mommy ko. And binibigyan niya ako ng pera. Vanessa ang first name. Iyong anong ibinigay sa akin ni Vanessa, iyon ‘yung ini-report ko. Mayaman siya, sugar mommy ko,” said Duterte.
“She is about 35, 36 years old. She is working but she is well off and nagkakilala kami. Marami siyang pera from — estimate lang naman ‘yon. Alam kaya ako gustong patayin ni Honeylet eh. Parang checker ganun. She checks on…,” he added.
Duterte raised the topic on Vanessa anew when the media refused to bite on his sugar mommy story.
“So you are satisfied with Vanessa? Ha? Eh ‘di hayaan mo para magtanong ‘yan sila kung sino si…‘Pag hinabol na ako ng Commission on — pati BIR sabihin ko na ang totoo. Ngayon… Iyong lahat ng totoo about Vanessa. Pero as of now she remains hindi naman incognito but… Mabait siya. And someday I will reveal it to you. Pero ngayon mag-ano kayo saan talaga galing ang three million. May pera ‘yung babae eh,” he said.
He said Vanesa would not say if she was married or single but he knew she was from Manila ”She has been traveling with me every labas ko. This time wala. This time wala. The previous labas ko she was always a member of the (delegation),” said Duterte.
When Go finally outed that Vanessa was fake, Duterte explained why he decided to answer serious questions on the source of his excess campaign funds with a joke: “Kayo suspetyoso, sinabi ng babae, sugar mommy. Hala, ‘yung tainga ganun na.”
