Trillanes hopes Senate will probe Duterte when political tide shifts

Senator Antonio Trillanes. AFP FILE PHOTO

Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV is not losing hope that his colleagues will be up to the task of investigating President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged direct link to over a thousand of summary killings in his hometown of Davao City once the political tide shifts.

In an INQ&A interview on Tuesday evening, Trillanes expressed optimism that his fellow senators backing Duterte would turn the tables and probe the President’s alleged involvement in the infamous Davao Death Squad when his political influence declines.

READ: Trillanes: Matobato ‘genuine,’ validates Duterte’s bragging of killings

This was despite senators voting against Trillanes’ motion to investigate Duterte over the killings of criminals when he was still Davao City mayor.

“Once the popularity wanes and nag-sway ‘yung (the) political tide (sways), the senators will be up to the task. On one hand, very popular si President Duterte and nakita nila na nagkaroon ng chilling effect kagaya ng ginagawa nila kay (President Duterte is very very popular and they saw that there has been a chilling effect like what they did to) Sen. (Leila) De Lima,” Trillanes said.

“As always nauuna muna ‘yung mga tao, ‘yung public sentiment, pagkatapos nun ‘yung mga politiko magtatalunan na ‘yan (The public sentiment comes first then the politicians would ride on it). It’s sad but that’s how it works. Kumbaga sa mga (For) trailblazers like us, mabigat ‘yung role na ‘yun na mag-spearhead ng investigations o opposition, mabigat na laban ‘yun (the role of spearheading investigations or opposition, it’s a challenging task),” he added.

Trillanes said his colleagues were still in a “vulnerable” and “grappling” stage to initiate any move against Duterte, in fear of being at the receiving end of tirades from the President’s camp and his supporters.

De Lima, who has become Duterte’s staunchest critic, initiated the Senate inquiry into the spate of suspected extrajudicial killings in the country amid the administration’s bloody war on drugs. She is now being accused by the President and his allies of coddling drug lords at the national penitentiary.

After his privilege speech that tagged the President as a “mass murderer,” Trillanes on Monday moved that the Senate blue ribbon committee probe Duterte as he stood by the credibility of confessed hitman Edgar Matobato.

In his speech, Trillanes presented a fact-checking of Matobato’s claims including several documents like ID card, payroll and job orders showing that he was indeed an employee of the Davao City government until 2013 and assigned to the heinous crimes division under the City Mayor’s Office.

Despite questions of “inconsistencies” from other senators, Trillanes said some senators were now starting to believe Matobato’s testimonies.

“Maraming nagsasabi na ganun pala. Akala nila, kapag tinignan mo lang kasi si Mr. Matobato, baka ang tingin mo sa kanya farmer o ordinaryong man on the street lang. Hindi mo siya makikita as the hitman that he claims to be… Lumiwanang sa kanila (Many started to believe. They thought that when you look at Mr. Matobato, you might think that he is a farmer or ordinary man on the street. You won’t see him as the hitman that he claims to be… [The testimonies] shed some light) that this guy is indeed a member of the Davao Death Squad,” he said.

WPP lawyer

In a latest development, Trillanes also revealed that a former counsel for Matobato when he was still under the government’s witness protection program (WPP) had asked the witness not implicate Duterte and his son Vice Mayor Paolo in vigilante killings in Davao City.

READ: Trillanes: Lawyer asked Matobato to spare Duterte, son Paolo in DDS expose

The soldier-turned-senator said the President long knew about Matobato’s testimonies because the Duterte camp supposedly reached out to him through the WPP lawyer, whom Trillanes did not name.

“At some point may lawyer na nag-reach out sa kanya, nag-offer to deal na ‘wag nang i-mention si President Duterte at Paolo Duterte (a lawyer reached out to him and offered a deal not to mention President Duterte and Paolo Duterte). Ayaw ni Matobato, determined siya (Matobato refused, he is determined) to expose him all the way,” Trillanes said. “Some people in the Duterte administration were able to get in touch with him and wanted to strike a deal with him. At that point alam na ni Presidente Duterte itong impormasyon na ‘to (President Duterte knew about this information).”

After rejecting the supposed offer, Trillanes said Matobato severed all ties with the lawyer, who he said reported back to the Duterte camp.

Trillanes maintained that Matobato was “genuine” and only validated President Duterte’s own bragging of killing criminals in Davao City, saying that the public and his colleagues should consider the witness’ age and illiteracy in scrutinizing his claims.

“Kailangan pigain n’yo muna yung memory banks niya kung may specific instances… Kapag pina-reflect mo talaga sa kanya deeply, flawless ‘yung reflection niya,” he said. “Hindi fair para kay Mr. Matobato ‘yung naging situation, hinahanapan siya ng butas. Nililito siya.”

Trillanes added that there was no deliberate attempt to blindside his colleagues by not presenting Matobato before the Senate leadership before testifying and without a sworn affidavit, adding that it was the prerogative of then justice committee chairman De Lima to allow the witness to take the stand.

“Wala namang deliberate attempt to blindside. Gusto lang naming marinig ng sambayanan ‘yung storya niya. Kung hindi kasi, they can put up obstacles, ‘yang mga sinasabing affidavit. Lahat ‘yan gagawin nila ‘yan (There was no deliberate attempt to blindside. We wanted the public to hear his story. If not, they can put up obstacles, through the affidavit. They could resort to it),” Trillanes said. “Kung wala namang inconsistency, saan ‘to pupunta? ‘Yun na nga ‘yung prospect ko na mass murderer ang ating presidente. May problema tayo niyan.  Hindi ba, at least (If there were no inconsistencies, where would this go? My prospect that our President is a mass murderer. We have a problem), that warrants a deeper investigation?”

Impeachment still far-fetched

But despite his calls for probe on Duterte, Trillanes said it was still very unlikely that reported impeachment moves against the President would prosper, calling the threats as “figment of the imagination.”

“Ayoko naman kasing magsabi na (I don’t want to say that) it’s not gonna happen, and I’m not talking about any extraconstitutional ouster plot, figment of imagination lang nila ‘yan,” he said. “‘(The) Yung impeachment kasi is part of constitutional processes. And when you vote to convict, you’re basically voting to oust. Pero malayo pa po tayo diyan, nandito pa lang tayo sa (But we are still far-fetched from it, we are still in) fact-finding.”

The presidential palace previously claimed having received information from credible sources of alleged threats to oust Duterte.

READ: Trillanes: Duterte ‘dangerously close’ to politicizing military

Noting that it was possible that Duterte had no hand in the DDS, Trillanes said the President’s allies in the Senate should be up to the challenge of clearing his name from Matobato’s serious allegations.

“Ang sinasabi ko dapat ‘yung mga kaalyado ni President Duterte mas game sila dito, mas eager sila to prove na walang kinalaman si President Duterte kasi ‘yan ‘yung transparency… Grabe ‘tong allegation na ‘to (I’m saying that the allies of President Duterte should be more eager to prove that he has no involvement here to reflect transparency. This allegation is grave). We cannot sweep this under the rag. So at the very least, we dig deeper. Tignan natin kung saan ‘to pupunta (Let’s see where it would go),” he said.

“Kung wala tayong makita at least safe tayo, masasabi natin this country is in good hands hindi mass murderer ‘yung presidente natin. Pero kung totoo, may kailangan tayong pag-usapan… Ang sabi ko nga, kung bogus ito (If we see nothing wrong, at least safe we’re safe, we can say that this country is in good hands, that our President is not a mass murderer. But if it’s true, we have to talk about it… As I said, if this is a bogus), we will fall flat to our places. But we should let our people decide. Kung mali ‘yan, ‘wag nating pagtakpan (If it’s wrong, we should not cover it up),” Trillanes added. RAM