Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed on Tuesday that corruption was “rampant” under the present administration that they have started documenting alleged corrupt senior officials.
But the number of alleged corrupt officials in the government was no longer surprising for the senator, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte himself is corrupt.
Trillanes made the remarks as he expressed doubts over the real reason why Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno had been sacked from his post supposedly due to loss of trust and confidence.
READ: Duterte sacked Sueno over loss of trust — Palace
“It’s a convenient excuse dahil may mga papasok na ngayong May so na-open na nila ‘yung door. So convenient nagbigay ng opening ito si Sec. Sueno, so tinanggal siya,” he said at a forum in the Senate.
(It’s a convenient excuse because there will be people coming in this May so they opened the door. Sec. Sueno conveniently gave an opening, so he was sacked.)
The senator, however, noted that two other officials—Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) chief operating officer Cesar Montano—had also been accused of corruption and yet the President did not fire them.
“So political convenience ‘yan na gagamitin nila, i-spin nila na parang may anti-corruption drive na nangyayari,” he said of Sueno’s dismissal.
(They’re using political convenience, they’re going to put a spin on it and make it appear there’s an anti-corruption drive happening.)
“What I’m saying is rampant ang corruption ngayon. We have been identifying senior officials of this administration na engaged in corruption pero hindi naman ginagalaw (but are not being touched)…” said the senator.
If Sueno was indeed involved in any illegal activities, then Trillanes asked why the President had only fired him and did not press charges against him.
“Basta maraming mga opisyales ng administration na ito na grabe ang corruption so tinitingnan namin, dino-document namin whenever possible,” he said.
(There are many officials in the administration who are into corruption so we’re looking into it, we’re documenting it whenever possible.)
“Unang-una, si Duterte mismo e corrupt e… Alam din ng mga close circle niya na ganun siya,” the senator added.
(First of all, Duterte himself is corrupt… His close circle knows that he’s like that.)
Trillanes said Duterte himself should have no skeletons in the closet to effectively fight corruption in his own ranks.
But the senator noted that until now, the President has yet to accept his challenge to disclose to the public his bank transactions to show that he had no more than P2 billion hidden wealth.
“Ilang buwan na ang nakalipas, nag-offer ako na kung gigil na gigil ka sa akin, you can get rid of me e. Prove me wrong, tanggal ako sa pwesto e. Kaso nga hindi niya maharap ‘yun dahil alam niya na totoo ang sinasabi ko,” he said.
(Months have passed, I offered that if he’s out to get me, you can get rid of me. Prove me wrong, fire me from my post. But he’s not facing it because he knows what I’m saying is true.)
READ: Trillanes to Duterte: Sue me if allegation on bank account is false
Trillanes has accused Duterte of having more than P2 billion hidden wealth and offered to resign from the Senate if proven wrong. JE