'Watusi, not atom bomb': Palace downplays Pacquiao corruption claims
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday belittled corruption allegations by Sen. Manny Pacquiao against government agencies, saying he has yet to come up with anything concrete to back his claims.
The senator has continued to allege that the country lost billions of pesos from corruption, and has said he would seek an investigation on it in the Senate.
But at a Palace briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque described Pacquiao's remarks as "useless" and mere "generalized allegations."
"It's just watusi, when I thought it would be an atom bomb," he said in Filipino, referring to the widely known firework in the country. "There were no bill of particulars or specific instance. There were no evidence."
Agencies have since sought to refute Pacquiao's claims. Last week, he tagged the Department of Health on its COVID-19 spending, which Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said was baseless.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development denied, too, that funds from the social amelioration program went missing.
Roque scored Pacquiao for his assertions and said failing to substantiate it would only prove that he was politicking the situation.
"Like what Sen. Gordon said, how would they investigate this when the proponent would not be around to ask questions?" Roque added, as Pacquiao left for the United States for another boxing fight.
The senator has found himself in a rift with members of his own party PDP-Laban, where he is president and its chairperson is President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte has also lashed out on Pacquiao publicly, vowing to campaign against him next year if he does not prove his allegations.
Many have said that Pacquiao is eyeing to run for the presidency in 2022. But infighting within the PDP-Laban has led its senior official, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, to call for him to step down and leave, which would lose him the support of the ruling party.
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