President Rodrigo Duterte revealed that her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, was the abogado of Filipino tobacco maker Mighty Corp.

In a speech in Malacanang Wednesday, Duterte said he did not mind her daughter working for a company which ended up being the subject of a massive tax evasion case because it was her job as a lawyer.

“Ang anak ko was lawyering for the Mighty King. Siyempre piliin mo ‘yungkliyenteng may pera. Kaya sabi ko, kung hanggang diyan, okay lang, sabi ko. It’s lawyering. Nobody can question us and even I, when as a matter of fact it is just part of our profession, our vocation as a lawyer. Alam naman natin‘yang mga abogado,” said Duterte.

Duterte said the law firm of Sara and her husband, abogado Manases “Mans” R. Carpio, had been the legal consultant of Mighty long before it was accused of using fake stamp taxes to avoid tax payments.

“Si Mans Carpio, ang tatay niya kapatid niya si Ombudsman Morales —(Conchita) Carpio-Morales. Ito, abogado ito. Long before ‘yung Mighty ano — Mighty King, ang office nila ang nag-handle niyan,” said Duterte.

“I don’t know if (Labor Secretary) Bebot Bello has divested his interest there. But sila ‘yung mga puro Ilokano — Bebot Bello, marami ‘yan sila,” he added.

Mighty’s owners have settled its P38 billion tax evasion cases with the Bureau of Internal Revenue by agreeing to pay P30 billion to the government and to sell out all of its share to Japan Tobacco International.