Philippine's ex-Prez Duterte, aide accused of awarding contracts to cronies

A former Philippine opposition senator accused ex-President Rodrigo Duterte of plundering state coffers in a criminal complaint filed Friday, alleging that he conspired with an aide to award government infrastructure contracts worth millions of dollars to cronies.

Filed with the Department of Justice in Manila, the accusation adds to the former president's legal worries, which include an investigation by the International Criminal Court into allegations of crimes against humanity over the widespread killings of suspects during Duterte's drugs crackdowns.

Former Sen. Antonio Trillares IV said two construction companies, owned by the father and brother of longtime Duterte aide and now senator Christopher Lawrence Go, bagged more than 100 government construction contracts worth at least 6.6 billion pesos ($114 million) from 2007 to 2018 in the southern city of Davao, while Duterte was mayor. Neither company had the resources or manpower to handle large-scale infrastructure construction,