Trillanes ‘vindicated’ after ombudsman finds his complaint sufficient

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he felt vindicated after the ombudsman confirmed the documents submitted to them by the Anti-Money Laundering Council on the president’s alleged billion-peso bank accounts were “more or less” similar to the ones he presented.  

Trillanes called the move by the ombudsman “significant” during the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday.

“I feel vindicated. Talagang natutuwa tayo na kinumpirma ng ombudsman na bilyun-bilyon ang pumasok sa mga bank accounts ni Duterte. Significant itong kanilang pagkumpirma dahil babasagin nito ‘yung mga pagkukunwari ni Duterte na siya daw ay mahirap at sinasabi niya na wala raw siyang ganitong kalaking pera sa bangko,” he said.

READ: Duterte says he inherited millions disputing unexplained wealth allegation

The ABS-CBN TV network cited Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang saying that his agency has received Duterte's bank records from before he became president from 2006 to 2016 and that they show millions of pesos being transacted in joint accounts with his children.

“We can confirm that we received bank transactions from AMLC,” Carandang said.

“There were P40 millions... P50 million... there were many.”

READ: Official on Duterte bank records: There were millions

Trillanes first alleged that Duterte had unexplained wealth during the presidential campaign last year. In February, he reiterated the issue, saying Duterte had not yet revealed details of more than P2 billion he allegedly kept in bank accounts as a former city mayor.

He also cited the Commission on Audit’s report that the alleged 11,000 ghost employees when Duterte was still the mayor of Davao City and money coming from smuggling, gambling and illegal shipment of illegal drugs as the sources of Duterte’s supposed ill-gotten wealth.

Trillanes hoped that this revelation would enlighten the people.

“Sana maliwanagan na yung mga kababayan natin. Wag na kayong magpaloko na si Duterte ay corrupt at itong revelation ng ombudsman ay isang patunay na corrupt siya,” Trillanes said.

He added: “Hindi niya ito matatakasan. Ito na sinisingil na siya ng tadhana. ‘Yung mga krimen na ginawa niya, pangungurakot niya, pagpatay niya ng mga tao hindi lang sa Davao City kundi sa buong Pilipinas, hinahabol na siya.”

‘Sign or resign’

Trillanes had challenged Duterte to publicly release details of his bank account and sign a bank secrecy waiver to allow investigators to probe into his bank records, in which the chief executive repeatedly refused.

Duterte denied any wrongdoing and vowed to resign if anybody could prove he or any of his children were involved in corruption.

“If you see P200 million and confirm it that Duterte has it, I will step down tomorrow,” Duterte declared last week.

His staunchest critic once again challenged Duterte to “sign or resign.”

“‘Yung sinasabi niya na mapatunayan lang daw ang aking alegasyon ay magreresign siya. Ito na ‘yung patunay. The only [way] para ma-disprove niya to ay pumirma siya ng waiver. Kung hindi siya pipirma ng waiver ay kailangan niyang mag-resign,” Trillanes said.

READ: Alejano challenges Duterte to sign waiver or resign

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Albella said Duterte “respects the internal processes of the Office of the Ombudsman as an independent body and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty.”

He added: “[T]he president has nothing to hide.”

READ: Palace on ombudsman's probe into wealth: Duterte has nothing to hide