Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte and fomer Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers at the House of Representatives have disputed former President Rodrigo Duterte’s claims that ex-Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is now the Marcos administration’s attack dog, noting that Trillanes has been Duterte’s nemesis.
In Monday’s press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa, La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun reminded the public that Trillanes has been known to be critical of Duterte.
They were reacting to a TikTok livestream hosted by former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo last November 15, where Duterte claimed that Malacañang sponsored Trillanes.
READ: Bersamin on Duterte’s claim Palace is behind Trillanes: ‘Hallucination’
“It was my first time meeting former Senator Trillanes, and he has been consistent about his reputation as a fiscalizer ever since. So I really don’t know him that well, but of course, we know that he has a rivalry with the former president,” Ortega said in Filipino.
“Maybe it’s part three of their rivalry because he’s been deep with his own investigation since he was with the Senate. But I doubt if he’s an attack dog or what, or an attack dog of Malacañang,” he added.
Khonghun echoed Ortega’s view, noting that Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has dismissed Duterte’s allegations as Trillanes has been critical of the former president.
“Our Executive Secretary has already issued a statement, that this is a delusion, a hallucination. We know that former Senator Trillanes has his issues with former President Duterte, even before he became the president in 2016,” Khonghun said in Filipino.
“So he just went on with his issues against the former president, and because the former president was not able to answer this in the past few years, so I think it’s valid that he needs to answer the issues raised against him, especially the accusations made by former Senator Trillanes,” he added.
During the House quad committee’s hearing last November 13, Duterte was noticeably heated after Trillanes reiterated his allegations against him, that he and his relatives’ bank accounts were linked to drug lords.
Trillanes claimed that Duterte’s drug war was fake because it was supposedly just a cover-up for his alleged “drug syndicate” and it was implemented to eliminate competition.
READ: Bank documents show Duterte’s drug war was ‘fake’ — Trillanes
Trillanes also dared Duterte to sign a bank secrecy waiver to prove that his allegations were not true, which almost led to a scuffle as Duterte was seen grabbing his microphone to aim it against Trillanes.
According to Duterte, he would be willing to sign a bank secrecy waiver if he can slap Trillanes in public. In response, Trillanes said he was willing to be slapped just to get that waiver from Duterte.
READ: Duterte threatens to slap, hit Trillanes with mic at drug war probe
Other issues were also tackled during the quad committee hearing like alleged human rights violations in the drug war, claims that police officers who killed drug suspects were rewarded with money, and Duterte’s order to encourage criminals to fight back so they can be killed.
READ: Drug war successful, prevalence of narcotics minimized – Duterte
There were instances, however, when Duterte issued contradicting statements.
At one point in the hearing, Duterte said excess campaign funds were used to reward police officers, adding that it was a common practice for town mayors.
At some parts of the hearing though, Duterte denied the allegations from retired police colonel Royina Garma, who claimed that Duterte called her in May 2016 to discuss the implementation of a Davao model in the nationwide drug war.
According to Garma, the Davao template is a system where cash grants worth P20,000 to P1 million are given to cops who killed drug suspects.
READ: Garma says Davao drug war template, rewards system applied in entire PH