Trillanes files plunder case vs Duterte over ghost employees

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday filed a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte.

Trillanes accused Duterte of irregularity by maintaining 11,000 ghost employees in the Davao City government in 2014.

In a nine-page charge sheet, Trillanes said Davao City spent P708 million to pay for the services of the alleged ghost employees.

He claimed the complaint is supported by a report from the Commission on Audit which makes Duterte liable not only for plunder but also malversation of public funds and graft.

Trillanes also mentioned in his complaint how he received information from one Joseph de Mesa about the presidential candidate’s alleged unexplained wealth which was not declared in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

He claimed that based on a study by accountants and financial specialists, more than P2.4 billion flowed through Duterte’s alleged bank accounts from 2006 to 2015.

Trillanes added that Duterte and his relatives own some 50 properties.

He said all the money that flowed into Duterte’s bank accounts and those of his children, as well as the properties they allegedly own, “are clearly grossly disproportionate to the salaries and wages and other legitimate means of the mayor and his family.”

Trillanes said unexplained wealth could be used as basis for the suspension of a public official and his eventual dismissal from government service under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Trillanes claimed the hiring of 11,000 ghost employees could account for the money allegedly laundered through Duterte’s bank accounts.

Trillanes also disowned his rebel colleague, former Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon.

He said Faeldon had been separated from Magdalo Group due to some behavioral problems.

“Captain Faeldon has been expelled from the Magdalo Group since 2006. He is a disgruntled former member who has no following within the group,” Trillanes said in a news conference.

He said Faeldon is a member of Duterte’s campaign team and is being used to divert public attention from the main issue of the mayor’s ill-gotten wealth.

Duterte’s camp hit back at Trillanes by having Faeldon expose the former Navy officer’s supposed dealings with politicians while they were in detention for their role in the failed Oakwood Mutiny in 2003.

Faeldon accused Trillanes of receiving money from politicians, including Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, who visited them during their detention.

“That’s a big lie. Why don’t you ask Imee Marcos herself?” Trillanes said.

Duterte’s runningmate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, accused administration presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II of being behind Trillanes’ accusations against the Davao mayor.

Roxas, for his part, said Cayetano is trying to deflect the issues against Duterte.

“Senator Cayetano should just shut up. You’ve been very noisy talking about waivers on bank accounts; you’ve been very talkative about fighting corruption but now your runningmate was caught having secret bank accounts,” he said.

Tit for tat

Duterte, for his part, will file charges against Trillanes for allegations that the mayor had P211 million in his bank accounts in 2014.

“We will file criminal charges and a civil suit for damages against him after the elections,” Duterte’s lawyer Salvador Panelo told the Usaping Balita forum at the Serye Café  in Quezon City yesterday.

Aside from libel, Trillanes would face charges for perjury, intriguing against honor and incriminatory machination “for falsely claiming that Mayor Duterte had P211 million in his accounts at the Bank of Philippine Islands branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City,” Panelo said.  – With Jess Diaz, Jaime Laude, Romina Cabrera, Paolo Romero