Palace twits Trillanes on Duterte hidden wealth claim

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV sounds like a broken record when he sought another inquiry into the alleged hidden wealth of President Duterte, according to a Malacañang official.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Trillanes has merely rehashed his allegations against the President, which the senator first raised during the 2016 presidential elections.

“Lumang tugtugin. Election pa yan [That’s no longer new. It was raised during the last elections],” Roque said in a text message to reporters.

“Wala na ba bago? Parang sirang plaka [Is there anything new? (He’s) like a broken record],” he added.

Trillanes on Sunday said he would file a resolution asking the Senate to jumpstart its own investigation on Duterte’s supposedly ill-gotten wealth.

Trillanes said he will file the resolution today, which seeks to formally look into the bank documents under the name of the President and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio showing their undiscosed “covered transactions” or transactions exceeding 1500,000 which may have violated the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

Last month, the President said he was ready to face any congressional probe into allegations that he has billions of pesos in unexplained wealth in his bank accounts.

Duterte dared Congress to push through with inquiry to dispel the “endless suspicion” about his alleged hidden wealth.

“That’s why I want Congress to proceed with the investigation. As a matter of fact, I am insisting on it so you will know the truth,” Duterte said before visiting India last month.

Earlier, Trillanes accused the President and his family of having more than 12 billion in questionable transactions in their bank accounts.

The complaint was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Duterte has repeatedly denied having hidden wealth, saying his assets would not exceed 140 million.