Duterte camp: Suing Trillanes a waste of time

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that they will not file charges against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV despite his allegations that the mayor has an undeclared bank account.

In a telephone interview with ANC, Duterte's spokesperson Peter Laviña said that suing Trillanes would just be a waste of time.

Trillanes earlier claimed that Duterte did not declare P211 million in his 2015 Statement of Assets and Liabilities. The senator also challenged Duterte to sue him for libel if his allegation is proven false.

READ: Trillanes claims Duterte has P211M in undeclared bank account

Laviña, meanwhile, said that the bank where Duterte allegedly has an undeclared account should issue a statement on the matter.

"We will consult the lawyer if we will ask (Bank of the Philippine Islands) to issue a statement because no less than the name of the bank has been dragged into this. They have to issue a statement whether this is correct or not," Laviña said.

Duterte's spokesperson noted that the mayor had earlier stated in a public forum that he only has accumulated savings worth P6 million.

"It's part of the smear campaign being raised against the mayor especially right now. His opponents are practicing crab mentality, trying to pull him down with all these baseless accusations," Duterte's spokesperson said.

Trillanes, however, insisted that he is exposing Duterte's alleged undeclared wealth as his part of his job as a senator.

Last year, Trillanes, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III led the Senate hearings on the corruption allegations against Vice President Jejomar Binay who had been leading pre-election surveys at the time.