Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte last night said he would resign if Senator Antonio Trillanes IV can prove that he had, at one time, 2 billion pesos (US$40.06 million) worth of bank deposits.

“If Trillanes can prove his allegation that I have amassed 2 billion pesos illegally or if that bank account under my name has a total deposit at one time of even just half a billion, I will resign as president immediately,” the president said in a taped video released midnight.

Duterte denied the allegations of the Senator and branded it as “old” and “rehashed”.

He said he had already answered the allegations before he became president, referring to the 211 million pesos bank deposits that he supposedly had at a branch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands that Trillanes alleged during the campaign period.

He said despite the allegations, 16 million Filipinos still voted for him and placed him in the office.

The president also defended his family and their respective sources of income, saying that they have their respective businesses and professions that help generate income and savings.

Duterte said his partner Honeylet Avancena for instance has a donut business that she had been running for the past 18 years apart from being a meat supplier to five malls in Davao.

The president also defended his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, whom he said is a practicing lawyer who had actual clients who paid for her services.

- Bernama