Duterte spews expletives at Trillanes over rehashed plunder allegations

President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday pelted former senator Antonio Trillanes IV with expletives, claiming that the latter’s plunder accusations against him were only rehashed allegations.

He further said he thinks the former senator was having “illusions of grandeur” by considering running for president in 2022 elections.

“Tingnan mo ‘yung kay Trillanes, nakaw na naman ‘yung sinasabi. ‘Yun ‘yung sinabi niya noong eleksyon, inuulit naman ng gago ngayon,” Duterte said in a taped meeting with members of his party, PDP-Laban.

(Look at Trillanes, he is once again accusing me of plunder. That’s what he said in the elections and he is repeating it now.)

“Alam mo si Trillanes, I think he has, may illusions of grandeur… Bobo talaga ang yawa,” he added.

(I think Trillanes has illusions of grandeur. He has a really stupid mind.)

Trillanes earlier accused President Duterte and Senator Bong Go of alleged plunder involving P6.6-billion in government projects. A bulk of the amount, he said, was from contracts secured during the Duterte administration’s first two years.

READ: Trillanes: Documents show Duterte, Go liable for P6.6-B plunder

Duterte further described Trillanes as a “coward” who would back down when challenged.

The President earlier lumped Trillanes and Senator Manny Pacquiao, in a sense that they want to hold power.

READ: Duterte says Trillanes, Pacquiao alike: ‘They want to hold power’

Malacañang has dared Trillanes to file cases over his allegation that Go’s family won government projects worth as much as P6.6 billion under Duterte— P1.5 billion when the chief executive was still Davao City mayor and P5.1 billion during the first two years of Duterte’s presidency.

abc