Duterte mulls charges vs Trillanes over 'undisclosed account' allegation

MANILA, Philippines - Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is considering filing charges against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for alleging that he has more than P200 million in an undeclared bank account, the mayor's camp said Wednesday night.

Earlier Wednesday, Duterte's spokesperson Peter Laviña said that the allegation is part of a smear campaign and that suing Trillanes would be a waste of time.

Laviña is cited in the press statement released Wedensday night, saying "legal experts are looking into the possible cases that can be filed against Trillanes."

Trillanes claims to have proof of transactions crediting money into an account held by Duterte and his daughter Sara at a Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Pasig City. He said that the bank account was not disclosed in Duterte's 2014 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. He also dared Duterte to file a libel case against him.

Duterte has denied the allegation.

"That's garbage. You can check with the bank. You go there," he said on Wednesday.

Duterte and his runningmate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano signed a waiver to allow scrutiny of their bank accounts, but the mayor said that the supposed BPI bank account is not covered by the waiver since, he said, it doesn't exist.

"You (Trillanes) prove it. I will not make it easy for you. I will not play into your hands," Duterte said.

Duterte said that Trillanes is making the allegation because "he rejected him" as a vice presidential candidate.

Trillanes is running for vice president and supports Sen. Grace Poe, who is running with Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero. Duterte has overtaken Poe in recent pre-election preference surveys.