At the height of emotion, people sometimes say things they don’t mean.
Take the case of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who has been challenging President Rodrigo Duterte to sign a bank secrecy waiver to disprove allegations that he has hidden wealth.
But at a press conference on Wednesday, Trillanes dared Duterte to sign a warrant, instead of a waiver.
“Uulitin ko ulit ito. Mr. Duterte pumirma ka ng warrant… ay ng waiver (I will repeat. Mr. Duterte sign a warrant…a waiver),” the senator said, immediately correcting himself.
Before issuing the challenge, the senator was talking about the absence of a warrant of arrest against him despite Duterte’s order to arrest him.
“Huwag ka nang gumawa ng ma ganitong kalokohan (Don’t do this kind of bullshit again). We don’t need to go through all these, pumirma ka ng waiver (sign a waiver). Pakita mo sa mga loyalista mo na naniniwala pa rin sayo na malinis ka at papakita ko naman sa kanila kung gaano ka ka-corrupt (Show the people who are loyal to you and who still believe in you that your are clean, and I will show them how corrupt you are),” Trillanes went on.
The senator also repeated his promise to go to jail by himself if his allegation that the President has hidden wealth is proven wrong.
“Pagka nagkamali ako dun, yun na. Mark me, magwa-walk-in ako ngayon sa kulungan na gusto niya kung saan (If I make a mistake there, that’s it. Mark me, I’ll walk in jail again),” he added.
Trillanes has been holed up at the Senate since Tuesday after the President ordered his arrest through a proclamation that voided the amnesty granted by then President Benigno Aquino III. /ee