SARA: TUPAS OFFERED MONEY TO TESTIFY

Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday claimed that former Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas was offered money and other incentives to testify on allegations that she had received millions of pesos in cash deliveries.

Tupas, a former aide of Duterte, was drawn into the controversy after dismissed police officer Rodulfo Mondigo Gracioso Jr. linked him to the alleged cash deliveries in his affidavit which prompted a probe by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“I confirm that there were negotiations involving money for possible witnesses to the fabricated story about the suitcases of money that were allegedly delivered to me, as stated in Gracioso’s affidavit,” Duterte said in a press briefing.

Gracioso alleged that he delivered cash to Duterte, her brother Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, and their father former President Rodrigo Duterte on the instructions of then House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

He also claimed that Tupas received cash on behalf of the Vice President.

The Vice President said Tupas told her that the authorities had promised his family money and a house in Forbes Park if he cooperated with them.

“Tupas himself told me that when NBI personnel attempted to forcibly take him in North Cotabato last 29 September, he was promised money, a place to live in Forbes Park for his family, and other things,” she said.

Duterte said Tupas was initially approached by the NBI.

“They went to see Jefry in North Cotabato and told him, ‘You have a threat from the Dutertes so we will take you to secure you.’ Jefry told them, ‘I want it in writing.’ They said they would provide something in writing. What they sent was a subpoena ad testificandum,” the Vice President said.

Duterte also suggested that Gracioso named Tupas because he believed the former city information officer was vulnerable after he lost his job.

“In my view, Gracioso may have named Tupas because he might have thought that Tupas needed money and was desperate after losing his job,” she said.

“And because of his homophobia, he thought that a gay person going through hardships in life would be an easy target,” she added.

Tupas has since submitted an affidavit to the NBI denying Gracioso’s allegations and receiving cash on Duterte’s behalf.

Velasco’s camp has likewise said the allegations against the former House speaker had no basis.

Duterte also firmly denied Gracioso’s allegations that he personally delivered millions of pesos in cash to her, saying that photographs, records and other evidence contradicted his account.

She said she will submit her own affidavit on Thursday in response to Gracioso’s sworn statement and media interviews, which she said linked her to incidents she neither knew about or was involved in.

“I strongly deny the statements made by Rodulfo Mondigo Gracioso Jr. in his sworn affidavit and media interviews linking me to events that I did not do, had no knowledge of, or did not personally experience,” Duterte said.

She said she deliberately withheld some evidence and explanations to prevent Gracioso and his “scriptwriters” from adjusting their accounts based on records in her possession.

Duterte disputed Gracioso’s claim that he served as part of her security detail and repeatedly fetched and escorted her between 2018 and 2022.

“From the very beginning of my father’s term, it was made clear to our family that the mandate of the PSG had to be followed and that the PSG would be responsible for our security,” she said. Rodrigo Duterte was President at the time.

“Because of this, from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2022, only the PSG served as our security personnel,” she added.

She also denied Gracioso’s account that he picked her up from a Pasay City aircraft hangar and drove her in a white Ford Savannah to hotels where the cash deliveries supposedly took place.

“I did not own a white Ford Savannah artist van,” Duterte said.

She likewise belied his claim that he delivered suitcases containing millions of pesos to her Davao City residence, saying his description of the house did not match its actual layout.

“It was merely a garage of my mother’s house, not a receiving lounge. This only means that Gracioso had never been to our house because he did not know what our house looked like,” she said.

Duterte suggested the allegations involving her could be linked to a personal dispute between Gracioso and Velasco.

“Whatever problem or misunderstanding there was between Lord and Gracioso, I should not be dragged into their personal money dispute,” she said.

On Gracioso’s challenge for her to undergo a lie detector test, Duterte said she was willing but demanded that he first make public his own test.

“I have no problem with a lie detector test, but they should first show the public Gracioso’s lie detector test because he is the one claiming that he passed it,” she said.

Duterte also pointed to photographs as evidence that would establish where she was at particular times, also advising her family to take selfies with landmarks.

“Every day in your life, take a selfie at a landmark wherever you are. So after 10 or 15 years, you will have something like Gracioso has given us,” she said, pointing to a photograph she presented to challenge his claims.

Mother knows best?

Duterte also said that she and her mother had discussed the possibility of her younger brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, seeking national office in 2028, although she said she had not discussed a presidential bid with him.

“My mother told me to go home to Davao, and that Baste should be the one to run in the national elections. She told me, ‘Go home to Davao.’ Then she said, ‘Let Baste handle the national [race],’” Sara said.