Trillanes asks Senate to probe Duterte bank accounts

MANILA, Philippines — Administration critic Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday filed a resolution seeking a Senate inquiry into whether President Duterte and his eldest daughter Sara had concealed assets amounting to more than P100 million.

In Senate Resolution 602, Trillanes asked the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies to probe deposits and investments involving their accounts, which he said could show possible violations of the country’s anti-money laundering law.

Senate leaders, however, showed lack of interest, with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III calling it a “tragic waste” of time although stressing he would not stop any probe.

Duterte has cultivated an image as a humble man who disdains opulence and is uninterested in wealth and materialism.

Trillanes has long accused Duterte of failing to disclose his wealth going back to his time as mayor of southern Davao City prior to winning the presidency in May 2016.

Duterte has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and promised to resign if there was proof.

The President has even instructed the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to disclose the transactions, yet he has still to sign the required waiver for that to happen.

Trillanes cited a recent report by VERA Files, which said Duterte and daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, who succeeded him as Davao mayor, failed to disclose deposits and investments exceeding P100 million in their official asset declarations. Sara also denies wrongdoing.

VERA Files said the bank records it saw came from the Senate and were entered into records by Trillanes himself, who claimed the same documents came from the AMLC.

The presidential palace dismissed Trillanes’ allegation as “old news” and said the lawmaker has no proof.

“The council had said those documents did not come from them and that the data he was talking about was incorrect,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

Roque said any plan to oust the highly popular leader would fail.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang last year initiated an inquiry into allegations that Duterte had hidden assets. The President’s office last week sought his removal.

Duterte has sparred repeatedly with Trillanes. Last year, he alleged that the senator had secret overseas bank accounts and read out the account number of one on live television. Duterte later admitted, however, that he had deliberately read out a false account number, but did not say why.

Trillanes’ Senate colleagues said any probe on Duterte’s bank accounts would likely go nowhere.

The biggest stumbling block to such a probe would be the Bank Secrecy Law, they said.

Pimentel even questioned Trillanes’ motive in seeking an investigation, noting the latter tried to pin down former Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte and Sara’s husband lawyer Manasses Carpio in previous legislative probes on other allegations.

“Now it’s the same thing against other members of the Duterte family. If he (Trillanes) really has the evidence then he should bring an actual case in the proper body,” Pimentel told reporters.

“But if this is part of just making this issue land in the news then this (inquiry) should not be allowed. It will be a tragic waste of time of the Senate,” he said.

Trillanes said his filing of the resolution was a “direct response” to Duterte’s challenge for Congress to investigate his bank accounts.

He said his resolution just needs to be referred to the committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies chaired by Sen. Francis Escudero and “consensus among senators is not needed.”

He also mocked Pimentel, saying the latter has no power to block the referral of his resolution to the committee.

“Masyado namang syang ninenerbyos agad para sa amo nya (he’s getting too nervous for his boss),” Trillanes said.

Escudero said it is his policy to hear all resolutions and bills referred to any of his committees.

“However, as to how far we can go would depend on the cooperation of the depositors concerned. Without it, we will always be hitting a wall because of the Bank Secrecy Law,” Escudero said.

He cited the case of former Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista, who is being probed for alleged ill-gotten wealth. The Luzon Development Bank, where his accounts are held, declined to open the accounts citing the law and the lack of waiver from Bautista.

He said he won’t stop Duterte from testifying if the latter insists. But Escudero said he has no intention of inviting the President to the hearing.

However, he said it is possible that he would invite Sara to the hearing to allow her to air her side.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson wondered about the point of the inquiry when apparently no predicate crime has been committed that is supposed to trigger an AMLC probe.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said it would be better if the committee would first consider working on amendments to the Bank Secrecy Law. – Reuters