Is it true that every time the Palace attacks an oligarch, one or two members of Duterte’s cabinet appear “miraculously” before these oligarchs to assuage their hurt feelings and give these oligarchs assurances that “things will be settled soon, but promise us to keep your mouths shut.”
Currentph.com got this straight from one of those who witnessed a meeting with a known Duterte official and an oligarch somewhere in Manila. The meeting lasted for about an hour and it happened after President Duterte publicly lambasted the oligarch’s firm for alleged “sins” against the Filipino people.
Nothing usual about this because these things really happen– emissaries from the President sent to anyone who unfortunately got himself in a fight with city hall (the palace) or was exposed for some “shady” or “anomalous thing.” This is NORMAL since it is the responsibility of the palace to manage the interests of its numerous stakeholders.
Currentph.com is not certain if this official went there to really represent the interests of the President. What is, however, unfortunate is that this official reportedly managed to get what the witness described as a “transaction fee” several hours later. And the oligarch just shook his head. The man probably felt “too little” or was humiliated because he felt like he was visited by a petty government official’s bag man?
IN 2016, this oligarch was one among many who expressed his preference to “strong willed. men” like Duterte. Now, this big businessman felt that Duterte is a “letdown”—all bluster, no concrete gains so far inspite of the fact that the former Mayor of Davao has been serving the people for four years already and on his last 700 days.
” I think probably because this President is still acting like a mayor. Or, he may have thoughts of using mayoral tactics, but this time, big time na. When before, they used to transact with small businessmen, owners of hardware stores, or sari-sari stores, now they realized that heto na, tipak na, okey na, malakihan na ito.”
The official, several pundits say, is already filthy rich after several of his minions went to different companies and reportedly extorted money in exchange for the official’s “clearance.” This clearance indicate that the firm is “okey”
When transacting with erring firms, the official sent his trusted men, buddies of his from way back his days as a struggling lawyer. IN THE CASE OF THIS OLIGARCH HOWEVER, the official personally went out of his way to assure the oligarch that “everything will be okey. The President is just creating an issue to prop his ratings up. “
How true?
