Philippines' Duterte Dismisses Allegations He's Hiding Millions

Though there is a separation of the three branches of the government, Duterte said that as President, he has the power to call for an investigation on the Ombudsman.

The investigation was launched on the back of a complaint by Senator Antonio Trillanes who alleged that Duterte had amassed a personal fortune of 2.2 billion pesos ($43.1 million) between 2006 and 2015 and failed to disclose that money in his official assets declaration.

"I can create my own commission like the Agrava Commission and summon you", Duterte said, referring to the commission established by President Ferdinand E. Marcos in October 1983 to investigate the killing of Sen.

"There are baseless lies that I have hundreds of millions" of pesos, Duterte said in a speech to new members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines on Saturday night in Davao City.

Morales, you prioritize the case that has been filed for a long time.

He pointed out that the savings come from his inheritance, salary from a government stint of more than two decades and legitimate businesses run by his ex-wife and his current partner.

"In the name of public interest and in the name of justice and fair play, there ought to be a body who will investigate you also because the Ombudsman can not investigate itself". The complaints against us that are not true?

As to the documents in its possession, the office stands by its word, the Ombudsman said, adding that if the president has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear. "A part of that was my hereditary", Duterte said. "If I tell that every day, can you bear it?" Earlier, he promised to establish a commission to look into allegations of anomalies in the agency's work.

"The President's announcement that he intends to form a commission to investigate the Ombudsman appears to be a retaliation to our on-going investigation".

"Just pray, Carandang", he said according to Philstar, "I'm not threatening you... I will order the military or the police to arrest you", Duterte added.

"The president respects the internal processes of the Office of the Ombudsman as an independent body and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty", spokesman Ernesto Abella, said according to Reuters.