- Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade is not running for the Senate
- Instead he will concentrate on completing projects at his department
- The last day for filing a certificate of candidacy was yesterday (Oct 8)
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has decided against a Senate run.
In a statement on his Facebook page on Oct 9, Tugade said he did not his certificate of candidacy (COC) so he could concentrate on completing projects at the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
The last day for filing COCs was yesterday (Oct 8).
Tugade was initially included in the administration’s PDP-Laban senatorial slate.
He said he wants to complete “what we sincerely and honestly think is good for the country, the people…”
He said, “Tuloy ang trabaho sa pagtatapos ng proyekto. (The work continues until projects are completed.”
Tugade was one of the more than 900 Philippine-based individuals and among 39 politically exposed Filipino personalities recently cited in the Pandora Papers.
The latest in a series of major leaks of financial data exposed by a consortium of journalists, the Pandora Papers detail secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people.
Tugade said his holdings in an offshore account are “valid and legitimate”.
He said Solart Holdings was organized in 2003, long before he joined government.
He said he disclosed the investment in his Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth under “Personal Properties – Intangible”, particularly as “Offshore Investments”, from 2012 to 2020.
