MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has no links with the businessman who has slapped cyber libel charges against Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa, the Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said during a Palace briefing that Duterte does not personally know Chinese businessman Wilfredo Keng nor is he familiar with the complaint.
Anti-administration Pinoy Ako Blog on Sunday released an unconfirmed news article about the alleged activities of Keng’s Century Peak Metals Holding Corp., which bagged a government reclamation project in Cavite.
“You must remember that the policy of the President is he does not interfere with the department heads relative to their governance of their departments,” the Palace spokesperson said.
“Even assuming that those facts you stated are correct, it doesn’t follow that the President will know this particular person,” he added. “The President only interferes once there is a report of corruption in connection with any deals in government.”
Keng filed the complaint before the National Bureau of Investigation in 2017 against Ressa, who was arrested just recently following the issuance of a warrant of arrest from a Manila City court.
Based on the news report of former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr., Keng has allegedly lend his black Chevrolet Suburban to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was then facing an impeachment complaint.
Rappler reported that the SUV, which bore the plate number ZWK 111, was registered under Keng at the Land Transportation Office. While Keng admitted ZWK 111 was his, he said that he doesn’t own the SUV Corona had been using./PN
