Trillanes confident he will not be expelled

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has expressed confidence that he will not be expelled from the Senate, trusting that his colleagues deliberating on the ethics complaint filed against him by Senator Richard Gordon would judge the case fairly.

In an interview with CNN’s The Source on Tuesday, Trillanes said Gordon can “fantasize about that scenario but it’s not going to happen.”

“I believe the Senators know me well enough that this thing, whatever it is he’s alleging isn’t true. I trust in their wisdom and good judgement,” added Trillanes, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration.

Earlier, Gordon said Trillanes should be kicked out of the Senate because of his behavior “that’s really out of line” further saying that the opposition senator should “not call people names and insult his teammates.”

Gordon, who chairs the powerful blue ribbon committee, filed an ethics case against Trillanes, following a clash during the August 31 hearing on the P6.4 billion worth of drug shipment from China.

Trillanes called Gordon’s panel a mere “comite de absuelto” for refusing to invite presidential son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, and presidential son-in-law, Atty. Manases Carpio, amid their alleged links to the so-called “Davao Group” reportedly involved in corruption and smuggling within the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

But Gordon said that labelling the blue ribbon committee as such is a violation of Article 358 of the Revised Penal Code for oral defamation or slander, and of the Rules of the Senate.

Trillanes, however, downplayed Gordon’s reason for filing the ethics complaint.

He said Gordon merely wanted to show President Rodrigo Duterte that he is his “most loyal subject in the Senate.”

“Actually, Senator Gordon wants me expelled for that particular episode. How petty is that? But that’s the thing. He wants to protect his political patron, which is Duterte. He wants to show him that he’s the most loyal subject in the Senate that’s why he’s willing to do this. But will the other senators go along with him? I think not,” Trillanes said. /kga

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