After former senator Antonio Trillanes III said he had proof that former president Rodrigo Duterte and his family had received billions of pesos from a Chinese drug lord, the former chief executive not only threatened to slap him but even attempted to hurl a microphone at the former military officer-turned-public servant.
The potentially violent incident occurred at a House quad committee hearing where Duterte finally showed up after previously snubbing the body’s invitation for him to appear.
The proof that Trillanes offered were copies of cancelled checks payable to members of the Duterte family. Trillanes then dared Duterte to sign a waiver so that his bank records could be examined by the Senate or the House, both of which are conducting probes on the extra-judicial killings that occurred during the Duterte regime.
Both Duterte and Trillanes served as resource persons at the House hearing last week, along with former senator Leila de Lima, who sat beside the former president.
It was Trillanes who revived previous allegations that questionable funds were deposited in the Duterte family’s bank accounts.
Duterte began to show signs of losing his temper when Trillanes said he had information that the Anti-Money Laundering Council was aware of the transactions.
Trillanes told the House quad committee during a presentation that PHP2.4 billion had been deposited to Rodrigo and Sara Duterte’s bank accounts from 2011 to 2015.
Trillanes then claimed that during the 2016 presidential campaign of the Davao mayor, one of his contributors named Sammy Uy had deposited PHP120 million to the bank accounts of the Dutertes.
(Note: the exchange rate at that time was about PHP50=US$1.)
He cited self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Arturo Lascanas, who submitted an affidavit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that Uy was connected to the drug trade.
Trillanes said: “We can see the pattern. The drug lord would pay dividends to the Duterte family every October and April and it happened regularly. We can see that Vice-president Sara has two checks that were cashed there. That was while she was mayor. This is direct bribery.”
Deputy Speaker JJ Suarez asked Duterte if he would be willing to sign a bank secrecy waiver, which Trillanes had also been pushing when Duterte lost his temper.
“In exchange for what? Should I slap (Trillanes) in public?” a visibly irked Duterte asked the committee.
Glaring at Trillanes, Duterte said in a loud voice: “Jerk!” This, as he grabbed a microphone and gestured that he would hurl it at Trillanes.
With a smirk on his face, Trillanes said: “I’m right here.”
Sitting only three chairs apart, lawyers from both sides stood to ease the tension, as the hearing was suspended for seven minutes.
After simmering down, Duterte apologized for his behavior.
He then said he would sign a waiver.
“If there’s even an iota of truth to what’s being said, I will hang myself in your presence. I will invite you all to witness it,” he said.
Earlier in the House hearing, Duterte gestured that he would punch De Lima, who appeared uncomfortable sitting beside the ex-president but who refused to transfer to another seat.
Duterte had called her the “mother of all drug lords,” and had successfully had her placed under arrest on what would later be proved to be trumped up charges.
“(Duterte) dug his own grave today,” De Lima said.
During his earlier testimony before the Senate, Duterte said that he would take all responsibility for the killings of drug suspects that happened during his term.
Duterte is running to regain his seat as mayor of Davao City in next year’s elections, while Trillanes is running for mayor of Caloocan City. De Lima, meanwhile, is running for a party-list post in the House. —BETING LAYGO DOLOR (Contributing Editor)
