Business titans secretly fund Philippine presidential bets

MANILA: Philippine presidential favorite Rodrigo Duterte has flippantly brushed aside campaign trail allegations of accepting million-dollar gifts, while his rivals have refused to disclose their backers, deepening concerns over business titans' shadowy grip on politics.

The Philippines has one of Asia's biggest rich-poor divides, with poverty rates remaining stuck in recent years despite strong economic growth, and analysts say one of the reasons for the disparity is the debt that politicians owe their secret backers.