Trillanes: Smuggling is a family affair of the Dutertes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. (PRIB Photo by Cesar Tomambo)

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday lambasted President Rodrigo Duterte’s family due to the consecutive surfacing of their names in connection to illegal acts in the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“So this is a family affair of the Duterte family,” Trillanes said during a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing, pertaining to the smuggling issues at the BOC where the president’s son, Paolo Duterte, is linked to.

It appears that the President’s son is not the only member of the Duterte clan who is caught in the BOC mess.

According to Trillanes, Manases Carpio, Duterte’s son-in-law and husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, is also involved in the corruption in BOC. Manases is also a nephew of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Trillanes said that former Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service director Neil Anthony Estrella verified Carpio’s involvement in the Customs operation and that he had also seen the latter at the office of the resigned BOC chief, Nicanor Faeldon, but did not have any information about what went through their conversation.

Trillanes added that according to his informants, Carpio went to see Faeldon five times from late last year to early 2017.

“That was the information I got. Mans Carpio and Paolo Duterte have been influencing Customs operations and they are part of the Davao Group or they are behind the Davao Group,” he said.

Carpio also accepted bribes to enable the swift entry and release of shipments at the bureau, Trillanes alleged.

Meanwhile, Carpio denied all allegations Trillanes threw at him.

“Senator Trillanes is imputing malice in saying that my appearance before the BoC is because of smuggling. He is just a desperate rumor monger who happens to be a senator,” he said.

Carpio said that his profession as lawyer is the reason why he appears in government agencies, including BOC.

“I represent many clients who have transactions with the Bureau of Customs. It is my job as a lawyer to appear before the government agencies for and on behalf of my principals,” he said.