Ridon says no conflict of interest despite prior consultancy services to Davao

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Bicol Saro Party-List Representative Terry Ridon on Tuesday said there was no conflict of interest on his part for participating in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte as a House Prosecutor despite his prior position as consultant for the Davao City Government.

Ridon said he was never a personal adviser to then Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and instead provided policy consultancy services on poverty alleviation.

“We performed the work required under the engagement and submitted the corresponding reports to the City Government. The consultancy was never subject to any audit disallowance, more than six years after the engagement concluded,” he said in a statement.

“So what exactly is the supposed conflict of interest? My responsibility today is different and clear: as a prosecutor, I will present the evidence before the Senate Impeachment Court. The Court will determine the merits of the allegations,” he added.

Ridon said the prosecution will not be distracted from its presentation of evidence under unexplained wealth.

In a separate press briefing, Duterte said she knew about his consultancy services but did not divulge them as she wanted him to say that he had a conflict of interest.

She claimed that Ridon did provide work but received wages for it.

“‘Yun pala wala siyang gagawin kung hindi tatanggap lang ng pera. And may evidence ang City Treasurer Office na na-remit sa Land Bank Account niya ‘yung lump sum ng kanyang consultancy,” she said.

(It turns out he had nothing to do except receive money. And the City Treasurer’s Office has evidence that the lump sum for his consultancy was remitted to his Land Bank account.)

“Dapat kapag consultant ka meron kang ambag, meron kang accomplishment na nakatulong ka sa pang gobyerno. So nung ni-review na namin nakita namin this person walang ginawa, tumanggap ng pera. Alisin na ‘yan diyan,” she later added.

(If you are a consultant, you should have a contribution; you should have accomplishments showing that you helped the government. So when we reviewed it, we saw that this person did nothing, received money. Remove him from there.) — BAP, GMA News