Trillanes closed Singapore bank account online? Unverified, says Palace

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The claim of President Rodrigo Duterte that the alleged Singapore bank account of Sen. Antonio Trillanes was closed online is “unverified,” Malacañang said Monday.

Duterte revealed in an interview on Friday with state-run PTV4 that Trillanes closed his Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) account days before he signed a waiver and flew to the city to disprove that he has a bank account there.

READ: Duterte says Trillanes closed Singapore bank accounts through online

The DBS Bank, responding to online inquiries after Duterte’s revelation, said closing an account online was not possible. The bank said the account holder has to close it personally at the bank or submit a closure authorization form.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Duterte’s claim and the response of DBS were both unverified.

“Well, you know, that’s also unverified. All of these things have to be verified clearly,” Abella said in a palace briefing.

“The President claims that it was done that way. And then there’s another party that says it’s not. So both aspects need to be verified,” he added.

Duterte had claimed that Trillanes has various offshore accounts and said the senator received funds from sources abroad allegedly meant to destabilize his administration.

Trillanes has dismissed the President’s allegations as a ploy to divert attention from the latter’s alleged unexplained wealth. /je