Trillanes shrugs off ‘absurd’ cases of pro-Duterte lawyers against him

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV dismissed as “absurd” the cases pro-administration lawyers plan to file against him for alleged inciting to sedition and rebellion, and violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) law.

But Trillanes also said that those cases would be to his advantage since he would have the chance to ask the court to subpoena the bank documents of President Rodrigo Duterte, whom he accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth.

“No matter how absurd these cases may seem, I actually welcome them because, as part of my legal defense, I would be able to prove my claim on Duterte’s ill-gotten wealth,” Trillanes said in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Specifically, I would be able to ask the court to subpoena his bank documents as an exemption to the Bank Secrecy Law,” he said.

In a press conference held earlier on Thursday, lawyers – former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto “Jing” Paras, Manuel Luna, Eligio Mallari, Glenn Chong, and Nasser Marohomsalic – claimed the opposition senator “encouraged the military to kill the President” in his privilege speech last October.

“By concocting lies and spurious documents, he has encouraged, he has called on the military to kill the President. Sabi niya, ‘Nako kung makikita ito ng mga sundalo, M-60 machine guns ang gagamitin sa ‘yo. Mauubos bala nito’, meaning kay Mr. President,” Paras said.

Trillanes, in his privilege speech in the Senate last October 3, revealed the alleged Duterte bank account transactions that would amount to a total of P2 billion.

He said that if soldiers would discover the amount of wealth Duterte had allegedly amassed, they might use up all the bullets of an M-60 machine gun.

“Kung makikita ito ng mga sundalo, M-60 ang gagamitin sa’yo kasi marami-rami ito. Mauubos ‘yung magasin, kung ₱40 million ‘yung hinahanap mo,” he said.

Trillanes was apparently referring to Duterte’s earlier pronouncement that the soldiers can “shoot or overthrow” him if it would be proven that he has over P40 million in his accounts.           /kga