DOJ summons Trillanes over kidnapping complaint

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered former senator Antonio Trillanes IV to appear at the preliminary investigation of a kidnapping complaint filed against him by a businesswoman from Davao City.

A prosecutor ordered Trillanes to appear at the DOJ in Manila on October 11 and submit his counter-affidavit to the charges filed by the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on behalf of Guillermina Barrido.

Barrido had claimed that Trillanes conspired with Fr. Albert Alejo, lawyer Jude Sabio, and a nun to detain her in two convents for 14 days in 2016 to allegedly force her to sign a "ready-made" affidavit purportedly destructive to the reputation of the Duterte administration.

Trillanes has denied the businesswoman's accusation.

In a statement on Friday, Trillanes called Barrido's allegation "fabricated" and a move to silence the opposition. He reiterated that he has never met the woman and only learned that she had sought sanctuary from the religious community "because of her supposed damaging information against Duterte."

The former lawmaker added that Barrido also asked Filipinos abroad for financial support but that they stopped sending money "once they noticed that she had only been making up stories to extort money."

Although Barrido's account informed a separate complaint, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), lawyer for the CIDG, tried to introduce it as "additional" evidence to the sedition charges against Trillanes, Vice President Leni Robredo, and more than 30 others earlier this month.

But the DOJ panel handling the sedition complaint rejected the attempt, saying the OSG itself had previously claimed that its original evidence — essentially the affidavit of Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy — was sufficient to indict the respondents. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News