MANILA - Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte on Thursday appeared before the Senate after an invitation from the Blue Ribbon Committee to its hearing on the P6.4-billion drug shipment from China.

President Rodrigo Duterte's eldest son said he attended the session "as a gesture of respect to the Senate as a whole."

"I am formally appearing once and for all. I now have the time to deny any and all baseless allegations thrown against me," he said in his opening statement.

"My presence here is for the Filipino people and to my fellow Davaoeños, to whom I serve. I am very sorry…but I cannot answer allegations based on hearsay," he added.

The young Duterte was allegedly behind a certain "Davao Group" supposedly involved in smuggling. His name was allegedly dropped by fixers to let shipments with alerts pass through.

"A senator once said that we are a family of murderers and I am untouchable. Allow me to quote a message from a colleague of mine in the city council of Davao: ‘Every dog has his day. The law of karma will operate especially to those with evil intent’," he said.