DAVAO CITY , Philippines — Dismissing the so-called “ballpen challenge” or the signing of bank waivers, Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go yesterday lambasted Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Go earlier challenged Trillanes to a one-on-one, but the senator instead dared the two of them to sign bank waivers, continuing his criticism of the Duterte administration.
“Ball pen lang pala ang gusto mo, waiver na naman? O saksakan ng ball pen ang gusto mo? Gusto mo saksakan? Kahit saang kampo, puntahan kita (It appears that a ballpen is all you want. Another waiver? Or do you want a stabbing match with pens? Wherever you are, I’ll go to you), “ Go responded to the senator’s latest challenge.
Go said Trillanes should first accept his earlier challenge of a one-on-one and not divert the issue.
“Tanggapin muna ni Trillanes ang hamon ko sa kanya, kaysa dada siya nang dada. Ang hamon ko sa iyo, one-on-one, sa Tagalog, ‘mano-mano.’ Walang kasamang amo, at baka lalo ka lang maduwag (Trillanes should accept my challenge, instead of blabbering. I challenge you to a one-on-one. No one else around, or you may back out in fear),” Go said.
Go said Trillanes can only put up his own challenge should he defeat the Palace official in the one-on-one.
“’Pag natalo mo ako, pwede ka ng maghamon at kung meron kang makitang billion sa akin, sa ‘yo na. (If you defeat me, you can challenge me and if you find a billion-peso deposit in my name, it’s yours),” Go said.
Duterte earlier this year was quoted as saying in media reports that Go is a billionaire who does not need to profit from government projects after the latter was accused of interfering in the P15.7-billion procurement of Philippine Navy warships.
Go pointed out that this was only a joke.
Trillanes has been accusing Duterte of maintaining secret bank accounts since the 2016 national elections.
Last year, he signed a waiver for the 12 bank accounts being linked to him and dared Duterte to do the same.