Duterte threatens to slap, hit Trillanes with mic at drug war probe

Former President Rodrigo Duterte. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Tensions briefly rose during the congressional probe into the past administration’s drug war when former President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to slap, and eventually hit, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with a microphone.

During a break in the House of Representatives quad committee hearing on Wednesday, Duterte got a hold of his microphone and appeared to aim it against Trillanes after the former senator dared him to sign a bank secrecy waiver.

The bank secrecy waiver came about after Trillanes claimed again that the bank accounts of the former president and his relatives were supposedly connected to drug lords.

“Will the former president be okay that if we draft the waiver now, that it be signed today instead of tomorrow?  Will you be fine with that, Mr. President?”  Deputy Speaker David Suarez said, asking Duterte.

“Ano’ng kapalit sir?” Duterte asked.  “Sampalin ko siya sa publiko? Hindi, ngayon na, sasampalin ko sa publiko.”

(In exchange for what, sir?  Can I slap him in public?  No, I’ll do it now, I will slap him in public.)

“Hindi, wala naman, wala pong ganunan (No sir, we don’t do that here),” Suarez replied.

After these statements from Duterte, Suarez moved to suspend the hearing to calm down the resource persons.  However, Duterte muttered things to Trillanes before grabbing his microphone and aiming it at the former senator.

Duterte was stopped by his lawyer, former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson Martin Delgra III, and other lawyers — former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo and former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea — also stood up.

Former Quezon City lawmaker Jose Christopher Belmonte and Catholic priest Flavie Villanueva meanwhile shielded former Senator Leila de Lima, who was seated beside Duterte.

Eventually, the hearing was resumed, with Suarez appealing to resource persons to exercise decorum.

“Please, please observe proper decorum. We are in a committee hearing. We have already stressed from the very beginning that the proper rules, decorum, will be implemented regardless of who you are.  We live by a set of rules in this committee, and those set of rules will be followed, and those set of rules will be implemented,” Suarez said.

Duterte eventually apologized to the committee for his behavior.

“I just would like to apologize for the unbecoming behavior,” he said.

“Thank you so much for your apology, it is accepted, and I hope that the others beside you would also observe proper decorum.  But thank you so much for your apology,” Suarez replied.

Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. then moved to strike off the record Duterte’s threat to slap Trillanes.

This was not the first time Duterte showed signs of aggression at the quad committee hearing. Earlier, when de Lima claimed Duterte was lying about not knowing her, the former president was seen taunting de Lima and allegedly raising a fist at her

During his testimony, Trillanes presented bank documents allegedly linking Duterte to drug lords, claiming that he and de Lima had gathered the evidence

According to Trillanes, the bank accounts were validated by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

“Ito pong mga ito ay manager’s checks under their name (Dutertes) na ang origin ng account ay yung isa ‘don sa drug lords na mention ni Lascañas na si Sammy Uy,” Trillanes told lawmakers during the House quad committee’s 11th hearing on Wednesday.

(These manager’s checks are in the Dutertes’ name, originating from an account tied to Sammy Uy, a drug lord mentioned by Lascañas.)

Based on Trillanes’ presentation, over P2.4 billion was reportedly transferred by Uy to the Dutertes’ accounts from 2007 to 2015.

Duterte attended the quad committee hearing after being invited numerous times to shed light on the alleged human rights violations in his drug war.

The former president has been a central figure in the probe, especially after former police officials delivered shocking testimonies.  Previously, retired police colonel Royina Garma claimed that a Davao model — a rewards system — was implemented in the nationwide drug war.

READ: Garma says Davao drug war template, rewards system applied in entire PH

Garma said Duterte called her in May 2016 — when he was president-elect — to discuss the creation of a task force that will implement the Davao template on a nationwide scale.  The Davao template, Garma said, involved providing cash grants worth P20,000 to P1 million to cops who kill drug suspects.