Palace: Ill-gotten wealth accusation of Trillanes vs Duterte ‘an old tune’

President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Malacañang brushed off as “an old tune” the call of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s call for the Senate to investigate the alleged ill-gotten wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Trillanes’s claim that the President had more than P1 billion worth of hidden wealth was already raised during the 2016 presidential elections.

“That’s an old tune. That was [raised] during the elections,” Roque said in a text message. “Is there anything new? It’s like a broken record.”

Trillanes said on Sunday that he would file today a resolution asking the Senate to investigate the bank documents under the name of the President and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

READ: Trillanes renews claim vs Duterte ‘ill-gotten wealth’

The senator said the bank transactions involving these documents exceeded P550,000 – which may be a violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

“With this resolution, I am accepting President Duterte’s challenge to investigate his alleged ill-gotten wealth to once and for all reveal the truth on this issue. The public wants to know the truth and it’s in the hands of the Senate to uncover it,” Trillanes said.

Duterte insists on Congress probe

Before leaving for his trip to India last Jan. 24, the President said in a speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila that he would want Congress to “proceed” with its investigation into his alleged hidden wealth.

Duterte and his daughter had repeatedly denied the allegations Trillanes raised against them.

“That’s why I want Congress to proceed. You conduct an investigation,” Duterte said. “As a matter of fact, I am the one who is insisting so that you will know the truth.”

“This endless suspicion. It’s about time that we face each other,” he added. “That’s why I go after everyone. You won’t dig anything about me.”

Trillanes raised the issue of Duterte’s alleged ill-gotten wealth during the May 2016 presidential elections. Since then, the senator has been repeating his challenge for the President to sign a bank waiver.

“President Duterte must address this issue squarely once and for all and stop fooling the Filipino people. If he has nothing to hide, he should bare it all and sign the waiver,” Trillanes said.

“On the contrary, he has been dilly-dallying in his statements, and instead has been bluffing the people by publicly ordering AMLC [Anti-Money Laundering Council] to investigate his alleged bank accounts, although we all know that AMLC would not do it unless he signs a waiver on bank secrecy,” he added.

Joint deposits at BPI

Last week, he slammed Duterte after his office issued a 90-day suspension order against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang for allegedly releasing his bank documents from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Carandang is on top of investigating the alleged hidden wealth of the President.

On Sunday, Trillanes asked why the President said there was a leak of his bank documents when his camp denied such documents as being released by the AMLC.

In his proposed resolution, Trillanes cited the report made by Vera Files that Duterte and his daughter failed to fully disclose their joint deposits and investments exceeding P100 million in their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

The Vera Files report said the joint deposits of father and daughter were at the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Trillanes quoted the report as saying that these transactions included:

• a P48.17 million placement in 2006 that grew to P55.13 million by 2013
• a P40.55 million investment in 2009 that stood at P41.72 million in 2013
• about $220,000, roughly P10 million, from 2006 to 2012
• the purchase of P80 million in insurance policies in 2014
• a P16.85 million investment which begun in 2014

/atm