Trillanes denies link to rice smuggling accusation vs Pulong

Rep. Paolo Duterte (left) and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV. RTVM, INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV denied on Tuesday that he was behind the allegation in 2016 that presidential son and Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte was involved in rice smuggling.

Trillanes was referring to the accusation of Perfecto Tagalog who surfaced before the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at Camp Crame in Quezon City to submit his affidavit claiming the former lawmaker fabricated the issue to discredit the then-presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte ahead of the 2016 polls.

He was accompanied by his lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon, also the counsel of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” in the narcolist videos.

READ: ‘Whistleblower’ says Trillanes behind rice smuggling accusation vs Pulong 

In a text message, Trillanes, however, denied knowing Tagalog.

“Di ko kilala ‘yang tao na ‘yan. Dagdag na naman ‘yan sa mga kalokohan ni Gadon (I don’t know that person. It is just an addition to the deceptions of Gadon),” he said.

To recall, Tagalog claimed in 2016 that the younger Duterte and his wife January were in cahoots with alleged smuggler Davidson Bangayan or David Tan, who was then investigated by the Senate over rice smuggling.

Tagalog claimed Trillanes urged him to expose the supposed illegal activities of Rep. Duterte and that he was convinced that the accusation was true since the former senator showed him a supposed document from the National Bureau of Investigation as proof of the involvement of the presidential son to the illegal activity.

Speaking before reporters, Gadon said it would be up to the CIDG to identify which criminal case might apply against Trillanes based on the affidavit of his client.

Incidentally, Advincula is also claiming that Trillanes, among other opposition figures, is behind the narcolist videos that were allegedly part of efforts to topple the Duterte administration and install Vice President Leni Robredo and Trillanes as President and Vice President, respectively.

Opposition figures dragged in the issue have since denied this claim.