Duterte’s husband ‘appalled’ at Trillanes’ drug smuggling accusations

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, slammed former senator Antonio Trillanes IV for filing drug smuggling and graft complaints against him and others merely for “political stock.”

In a statement he posted on his Facebook page, Carpio said he was “appalled” that Trillanes was trying to revive the drug smuggling issue against him.

“It is appalling that former Senator Trillanes is trying to revive his accusations against me, Cong. Paulo Duterte, and what he calls the ‘Davao group’ for involvement in illegal drugs when a Senate inquiry he himself took part in found no reason to recommend our indictment,” said Carpio.

“It is understandable that a spent force like him would like to boost his political stock by grabbing the headlines, but it is deplorable that he would do so at the expense of innocent people,” he added.

Carpio then challenged Trillanes to “learn a lesson or two” from the libel charges he is facing “brought about by his reckless maligning of innocent people.”

Trillanes filed the cases before the Department of Justice on Wednesday. Apart from Carpio, First District Rep. Paolo Duterte, and former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon were also respondents in the case.

It stemmed from an incident in May 2017 where 602.2 kilograms of crystal meth worth P6.4 billion were imported from China using the Bureau of Customs’ express lane.

Probes conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee then later revealed that the contraband was given a “green lane” passage to slip through the Customs’s alert system and did not undergo physical inspection or document verification.

With the filing of the cases, Trillanes claimed that there was credible documentary and testimonial evidence gathered against the accused.

READ: Trillanes sues Rep. Duterte, VP’s husband, ex-BOC head for drug smuggling

While Carpio reacted harshly to Trillanes’ complaints, Paolo Duterte, for his part, welcomed the development as it would allow them to “address these accusations through the proper legal channels, ensuring that the truth will prevail.”

READ: Rep. Duterte welcomes drug smuggling case, maintains innocence