Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has challenged anew President Rodrigo Duterte to sign a waiver or resign from the presidency, as he felt vindicated after the Office of the Ombudsman found sufficient reason to act on his complaint over the Chief Executive’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
“This proves not only that my allegations about his billion-peso bank accounts are true, but also that Duterte has fooled a lot of people into believing that he is not corrupt,” Trillanes said.
At the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday, the opposition senator once again dared Duterte: “The only way na ma-disprove ang allegations sa kanya ay pumirma siya ng waiver. Kung hindi siya pipirma, kailangan niya mag-resign. So sign or resign.”
In a speech last September 20, Duterte said that, “If you see P200 million and confirm that I have it, I will step down tomorrow.”
Malacañang has welcomed the Ombudsman’s investigation on Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.
Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella has maintained that “the President has nothing to hide.”
“The President respects the internal processes of the Ombudsman as an independent body, and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty,” Abella said in a statement.
Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang said on Tuesday that Trillanes’ complaint was sufficient for the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to make the bank inquiry.
The Ombudsman said the documents on Duterte’s bank accounts, which the AMLC submitted to them, are “more or less” the same as the ones that Trillanes has presented.
“Sinabi mo na hindi totoo ‘yung mga accounts na ‘yan. In fact, kinakastigo mo ‘yung ABS-CBN at Inquirer na bakit ginamit ‘yung basura na allegation ko pero ngayon totoo naman pala so therefore, sinungaling na siya, corrupt pa siya,” Trillanes asserted.
/kga