Pulong Duterte denies cash delivery allegations, submits affidavit to NBI

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Davao Representative Paolo Duterte on Monday dubbed the allegations of cash delivery made by dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. as "pure fiction."

He issued the denial in his affidavit, which his camp earlier submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“I do not personally know him. I did not receive any money or maleta ng pera from him, whether in a bar in Davao or elsewhere,” he said.

“Mr. Gracioso’s allegations are pure fiction. It is a fairy-tale lie,” he added.

To recall, Gracioso claimed to deliver cash to Paolo Duterte, Vice President Sara Duterte, and former President Rodrigo Duterte on the instructions of former House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s camp submitted a jurisdictional challenge on the NBI’s authority to conduct the investigation on Gracioso’s allegations.

“Accordingly, the NBI has no unbridled right to investigate any crime. It can only investigate crimes as specifically enumerated in the above law,” his camp said.

“Hence, until the NBI provides our client documentary proof that the NBI has a specific delegated authority to investigate the allegations of Mr. Gracioso, then it is highly premature for the NBI to continue with its ongoing investigation,” it added.

The vice president has previously denied the allegations against her.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News