Duterte is in panic, says Trillanes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (Photo: senateph/Facebook)

President Rodrigo Duterte is now in panic mode following the accusations that his son and son-in-law are engaged in illegal drug activities and corruption mess in the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Sunday.

“Si President Duterte ay nagpapanic dahil malapit na mabunyag ang mga illegal na gawain ng kanilang pamilya. Kaya naman pala bilyon -bilyon ang pera nila sa bangko [President Duterte is now in panic because all of the illegal activities of his family will be uncovered soon. That’s why they have billions in the bank],” Trillanes said in a statement.

Trillanes’ tirades came after Duterte tagged the former as a ‘political ISIS’ or a terrorist who spread “garbage” allegations that are baseless.

The senator also said he will not stoop down to that level of discussion because he only wants to hit the issue naming Duterte’s son and Davao City Vice-Mayor Paolo and son-in-law Atty. Manases Carpio as masterminds behind the so-called Davao group and alleged involvement in smuggling operations.

“I will not stoop down to his level of name-calling. The bottom line is this, his son and son-in-law were named as the masterminds behind the Davao Group and are being suspected of being involved in smuggling operations that led to the express entry of the 6.4 billion peso shabu shipment into the country,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes added that the claims were not of his own but from the information extracted from Customs fixer Mark Taguba, a witness of Sen. Richard Gordon.

Trillanes also stressed that derogatory reports from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling group showed that this is not the first time Paolo and Carpio have been involved in illegal drug trades and smuggling.

“Moreover, this is not the first time that Paolo Duterte has been involved in smuggling and illegal drugs. Way back in 2007, there were derogatory reports from the NBI and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group about Paolo Duterte’s involvement in smuggling in BoC in Davao City Port,” Trillanes said.

“Then Edgar Matobato also testified about Paolo’s dealings with Customs officials in Davao City. Lastly, in Lascanas’ testimony, he was mentioned as having helped a certain Charlie Tan in drug smuggling,” he added.