MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s camp has challenged former senator Antonio Trillanes IV to substantiate under legal scrutiny his allegations that the Vice President and her husband, Manases Carpio, received hundreds of millions of pesos allegedly sourced from China.
Duterte-Carpio spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. rejected the accusations and questioned why Trillanes opted to publicly disclose the alleged transactions instead of presenting them before the Senate impeachment court, where his claims could have been made under oath and challenged by the Vice President’s defense lawyers.
“This sudden retreat is absolute proof that his claims cannot survive real legal scrutiny, and are nothing but black propaganda, which is par for the course for a professional character assassin,” Panelo said.
Trillanes claimed that Duterte-Carpio received P150 million through her foundation, while Carpio allegedly obtained P319 million through a corporation.
The former senator made the allegations after withdrawing as a witness for the House prosecution in Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial. He said he would instead hold a press conference to disclose information he had intended to present during the proceedings.
Panelo dismissed the allegations as another installment in what he described as Trillanes’ years-long campaign against the Duterte family.
“Since 2016, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has been peddling the same exhausted lies regarding Extrajudicial Killings (EJKs), fabricated drug links, imaginary unexplained wealth, baseless corruption allegations, and fictional China connections against the Duterte family,” Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo cited previous accusations against former president Rodrigo Duterte and members of his family, including those made by Peter Joemel Advincula, also known as “Bikoy.”
Advincula had accused Duterte and members of his family of involvement in an alleged illegal drug operation before later withdrawing his accusations and alleging that Trillanes was behind the scheme.
Panelo also cited lawyer Jude Sabio, who was among those who brought allegations concerning Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court but later withdrew his complaint.
“(Trillanes’) malicious fabrications have been exposed at every turn by the very pawns he used to rely on… Because of these repeated, unmasked deceptions, the Filipino people have rightfully and overwhelmingly rejected Trillanes in every subsequent attempt to get elected back into public office,” Panelo said.
Trillanes was removed from the House prosecution’s witness list on Thursday after requesting prosecutors to withdraw him.
He had earlier claimed that he was not welcome before the impeachment court, an assertion disputed by court spokesperson Regie Tongol.
Aside from the alleged China-linked payments, Trillanes has accused Duterte-Carpio of failing to disclose millions of pesos in time deposits in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth covering her tenure as Davao City vice mayor from 2007 to 2010.
He also alleged that Duterte-Carpio failed to declare millions of dollars in life insurance coverage in her 2010 SALN.
Panelo said the Vice President was prepared to take legal action over the allegations but expressed doubt that such a move would provide adequate recourse.
“The Vice President would gladly sue him for these endless fabrications, but we have already witnessed how those who actively peddle malicious lies against her and her family are openly protected and propped up by this administration,” Panelo said.
Trillanes’ allegations remain disputed and have not been established in court, while Duterte-Carpio’s camp has categorically rejected them./PN
