President Rodrigo Duterte’s son and son-in-law need not testify in a Senate investigation of the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) and corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after a key witness cleared them of involvement, Malacañang said on Saturday.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV had urged the Senate blue ribbon committee headed by Sen. Richard Gordon to summon Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law, Manases Carpio, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s husband, who were implicated by BOC fixer Mark Taguba in the smuggling activities of the so-called Davao Group.
Taguba, however, issued a statement on Friday “to clear” Paolo Duterte and Carpio “from any involvement in the shipment of illegal drugs into the country, and any anomalies in the Bureau of Customs.”
He also apologized to the two men and the President’s family for the “fake news” regarding his Senate testimony on Thursday.
Taguba is under investigation for allegedly helping to facilitate the shabu smuggling.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said “there may be no reason for the Senate investigative panel to call the two individuals to attend any hearing in Manila, although they have indicated willingness to testify” following Taguba’s latest statement.
Abella, however, said it would be up to the Senate to decide on whether to invite Paolo Duterte and Carpio to the hearing.
“The legislature is a coequal branch of government, and the Executive branch respects the Senate’s independence. We trust its wisdom on this matter,” Abella said.
The President’s daughter told reporters in Davao City on Thursday that her brother and her husband were willing to testify “if invited” by the Senate to shed light on the Davao Group.
“I will still advise them to respect government invitations,” the Davao City mayor said in a text message to the Inquirer on Saturday.
Gordon, however, doubted the two would testify in the Senate investigation.
“Because [Taguba] denied, do you think their lawyers will bring them there?” Gordon said in a phone interview on Saturday. “If you look at the transcript, [Taguba] never said categorically [that the two were involved].”
He said Taguba was not a credible witness, but he would still ask him to clarify his statements about Paolo Duterte and Carpio in the next hearing set for Sept. 25.
A verbal dispute erupted between Trillanes and Gordon on Thursday over whether the President’s son and son-in-law should be invited by the blue ribbon committee.
Gordon rebuffed Trillanes’ move to summon the two men. In response, Trillanes, one of the most outspoken critics of Mr. Duterte, called the blue ribbon committee a “comité de absuelto” (committee of exoneration) for allegedly trying to divert attention away from Paolo Duterte and Carpio.
Gordon said he would file an ethics case against Trillanes for disrespecting him and the Senate.
He denied Trillanes’ allegations that he was diverting the course of the investigation, saying the Senate could not just summon anyone based on hearsay.
“The law says very clearly you can only testify based on your personal knowledge,” he said.
Gordon said he was ready to submit a preliminary report on the investigation on Monday identifying the culprits and recommending charges against them.
In a radio interview, Trillanes vowed to block Gordon’s report, especially if it prematurely exonerated the President’s son and son-in-law of any wrongdoing without inviting them to the hearing.
Gordon said Trillanes’ statement showed “how biased he is.”
“That’s how disrespectful he is,” Gordon said.
He dared Trillanes to drink poison if he succeeded in getting at least three signatures in his ethics complaint against the opposition senator. —With report from Allan Nawal