FILE PHOTO: Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV is calling for a special audit of all transactions made by the family of Senator Bong Go after he accused the latter of involvement in the plunder of P6.6 billion in government projects.
“I am calling on the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on all the transactions of Bong Go’s family, namely CLTG and Alfrego Builders, with the government based on the very same official documents they have given to me in 2019,” Trillanes said in a statement Friday.
Trillanes, in a YouTube video posted Monday, claimed that Go’s family clinched government projects worth as much as P6.6 billion during the term of Rodrigo Duterte – when he was still mayor of Davao City and now that he is president of the country.
Of the P6.6 billion, Trillanes said, P1.5 billion was from when Duterte was Davao City mayor while the P5.1 billion was during the first two years of Duterte’s presidency.
Prior to becoming a senator, Go was Duterte’s longtime aide.
READ: Trillanes: Documents show Duterte, Go liable for P6.6-B plunder
In launching the claims, Trillanes cited documents from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Commission on Audit which supposedly stated that the construction company owned by Go’s father Desiderio Lim, CLTG Builders, bagged 27 projects worth P3.2 billion in 2017 alone, or only a year after Duterte became president.
Meanwhile, in 2018 alone, Trillanes said Alfrego Builders & Supply, owned by Go’s half-brother Alfredo Amero Go, bagged 23 projects amounting to P1.3 billion.
Go, for his part, said Trillanes’ claims were “rehashed” and the amounts the former senator mentioned were “bloated.”
The senator even insisted that the transactions are “legitimate” as those “went through public bidding and proper procurement procedures in accordance with our laws.”