Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday tagged the libel case filed against him by presidential son and former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte as another form of harassment by the administration against him.
“It’s very, very obvious na talagang naghahanap ng paraan (that they are really finding a way) to shake me down, to harass me,” he said in a press briefing.
Duterte earlier filed a libel complaint against Trillanes for reportedly accusing him of having extorted from the Road Board, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and Uber, a transport network vehicle service that formerly operated in the country.
The senator reportedly made the allegation in a Cebu radio interview.
Trillanes has been staying in the Senate since President Rodrigo Duterte revoked his amnesty and ordered arrest.
READ: Paolo Duterte, brother-in-law file libel cases against Trillanes
Aside from Paolo Duterte, his brother-in-law Manases Carpio also filed a separate libel case against Trillanes on the same accusations.
Trillanes, however, is suspicious on why the complaints were filed in Davao City, where the President’s daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio sits as mayor.
“Eh ‘yung kapatid ay ‘yung mayor, so maliwanag na magkakaimpluwensiya ‘yan (His sister is the mayor, so it’s clear that she will have influence on it),” he said.
The Davao City Prosecutor’s Office has asked the senator to submit a counter affidavit related to the complaints against him.
Trillanes has been staying in the Senate since President Rodrigo Duterte revoked his amnesty and ordered his arrest. /muf
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