Trillanes linking Polong to triad sidetracks Senate probe from ‘tara’ issue—Koko

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel (left) and Sen. Antonio Trillanes INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s attempt to implicate Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo “Polong” Duterte to a Chinese drug triad only diverted the topic of the Senate’s investigation on the alleged “tara system” in the Bureau of Customs, said a Senate leader on Friday.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said Trillanes has wasted time trying to prove the younger Duterte’s supposed involvement in the triad, which Trillanes linked to the shipment of the P6.4-billion illegal drugs from China to the country last May.

“Off tangent from the topic of the investigation. Sayang lang oras (Time is wasted),” Pimentel said in a text message.

READ: Duterte son, son-in-law show up in Senate for drug probe

Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto III, meanwhile, said he would choose not to react to Trillanes’ “unsubstantiated allegations.”

“Maraming ganyan na klaseng balita sa Internet (A lot of those kinds of news in the Internet). You give credence when you react,” Sotto said.

Asked to react, Trillanes said it was “unfortunate” that his colleagues were not interested in finding out the truth whether the presidential son was indeed a member of a drug syndicate.

“That’s very unfortunate. Aren’t they interested to know definitively that the son of the President, who is the architect of the bloody war on drugs, is not a member of a drug smuggling syndicate?” Trillanes said.

But Trillanes pointed out that the public, at least, saw the “evasive demeanor” of Vice Mayor Duterte.

“The good thing is, the public saw the evasive demeanor of Paolo Duterte and could simply conclude that the allegations are true. As far (as) they’re concerned, kung walang tinatago o hindi totoo, bakit ayaw ipakita ang tattoo at ayaw pumirma ng waiver (if he has nothing to hide, why not show his tattoo and sign a waiver)?” he said.

During Thursday’s hearing, Duterte refused to take Trillanes’ challenge of showing his “triad” tattoo and signing a bank secrecy waiver to disprove allegations that he had millions of pesos in his bank accounts. JPV

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