Trillanes challenges Duterte anew on bank records

ABOUT nine months after first raising this issue as the 2016 election campaign was coming to a close, Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV again challenged President Rodrigo R. Duterte to explain the alleged P2 billion in his bank accounts and the alleged millions deposited by a campaign contributor to his children and common-law wife.

“I am reiterating my challenge to President Duterte to release the transaction history of his bank accounts and if my allegations are wrong, I would immediately resign as Senator,” Mr. Trillanes said in a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 16. “It has been months since the President’s camp has postponed the release of the President’s bank transactions, and I am still waiting to be proven wrong.”

He handed reporters documents on the alleged transaction history of Mr. Duterte’s bank account with P2 billion worth of transactions from 2006 to 2015. He also gave reporters copies of Mr. Duterte’s alleged joint bank accounts with his children — Sara Z. Duterte- Carpio and Paolo Z. Duterte — and his common law wife Cielito “Honeylet” S. Avaceña, alleging that they had received P120 million from one Samuel “Sammy” Uy who was the President’s campaign contributor.

The Senator said the documents came from a concerned citizen named Joseph de Mesa.

“This is very relevant now so that our countrymen will see that they have been fooling us in the past few months, where the anti-drug war did nothing but kill many of our countrymen,” he said.

“But while that was going on, they did nothing against corruption and worse they freed the symbol of corruption — former President ( Gloria Macapagal-) Arroyo, and now they even want to free (Janet Lim-) Napoles.”

Mr. Trillanes said he is “confident in issuing this challenge because I am sure that what are written in these documents are true.”

Soon after Mr. Trillanes’ press conference, Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano, who was Mr. Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 presidential race, told reporters in an interview:

“This is no different to what (Mr. Trillanes) was doing during the time of ( former President) Arroyo,” Mr. Cayetano said, referring apparently to Mr. Trillanes’ military adventurism then. “The only difference there is that there were true issues then, imagined issues now.”

“In our judicial process the burden of proof lies on the accuser,” Mr. Cayetano also said, adding that he doubted the veracity of Mr. Trillanes’ documents.

Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo, who was Mr. Duterte’s counsel when Mr. Trillanes first raised the issue over the alleged deposits, said the senator’s accusations are a “nonsensical rehash.”

“The allegation is an old rehash of his nonsensical accusation against the President,” Mr. Panelo told reporters. “So if his documents were fake then, what he has now is also fake. When you lie in one, you lie in all.”

He added that the waiver Mr. Duterte signed during the campaign period, opening his bank accounts to investigation, is still valid as it has not been recalled.

For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella, in a media briefing, said if Mr. Trillanes has solid evidence, he should bring those to the proper authorities.

“Now if he truly has something in mind then he probably should just go to the proper authorities in order to be able to lay down something like this,” Mr. Abella said. “It’s best to just do it according to due process.”

Mr. Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, issued a separate statement, saying:

“If ( Mr.) Trillanes can show where my alleged P121 million is right now and how it became illegal, let’s get it and I will give it to all of you,” Ms. Duterte-Carpio said.

“I read the press statement of (Mr.) Trillanes and the challenge to answer the allegations was addressed to the President,” she added. “Let’s allow (Mr. Duterte) to decide on how he wants this issue to go down.”

Mr. Trillanes, who ran for vicepresident in the last elections, had filed a complaint of plunder against Mr. Duterte before the Ombudsman after raising the issue of his alleged bank accounts in April 2016. — with Ian Nicolas

P. Cigaral and Carmelito Q. Francisco