Trillanes to ask Senate to probe Duterte, Inday Sara ‘bank accounts’

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday said he will file a resolution seeking a Senate probe into alleged bank records of President Rodrigo Duterte and members of his family.

“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.

He said he will file the resolution on Monday.

Before he left for India last January 24, Duterte said he was willing to let Congress probe his alleged wealth as he wants to put an end to the issue.

Trillanes said Duterte "must address this issue squarely once and for all."

"If he has nothing to hide, he should bare it all and sign the waiver. 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.

The senator said he will ask the Senate to look into the bank documents of Duterte and his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Trillanes said that this may show their "undisclosed covered transactions or bank transactions exceeding P500,000.00, which may have violated the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)."

"And now, despite Duterte’s continued denial of existence of his alleged undeclared wealth, he suspended Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melcor Carandang for supposedly releasing his bank documents from AMLC. What is there to leak when they deny such documents being released by AMLC?," he added.

He said that in his resolution, he cited the Vera Files report that says Duterte and his daughter Sara, had at least P100 million in joint deposits and investments that were not disclosed in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

Vera Files said the report was based on documents priorly released by Trillanes. The senator had claimed that the documents came from the AMLC.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque challenged Vera Files to prove its report, which he branded as hearsay.

Meanwhile, Roque brushed off the proposed resolution of Trillanes, saying: "Lumang tugtugin. Election pa 'yan. Wala na bang bago? Parang sirang plaka."

During the 2016 election period, Trillanes claimed Duterte had P211 million in a joint account with Sara at the Bank of Philippine Islands.

A month later, Trillanes had filed plunder charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Duterte over the alleged questionable hiring of 11,246 contractual workers by the Davao City government in 2014.

In September 2017, Carandang announced that the Office of the Ombudsman will conduct a probe into the bank records of Duterte and his children, including resigned Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte, Sebastian "Baste" Duterte.

The Ombudsman said the probe was based on the petition of Trillanes.  —Marlly Rome Bondoc/ALG, GMA News