(UPDATE 5 – 3:06 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – As he had promised, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday signed a dozen waivers on bank secrecy, authorizing the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Office of the Ombudsman to check out the offshore accounts cited by President Rodrigo Duterte and three of his media supporters as belonging to the senator.
At a press conference, Trillanes showed Senate reporters the waivers he had signed, “duly notarized and received by the AMLC.” He said he signed the waivers “just to show na wala akong tinatago [that I have nothing to hide].”
The AMLC, he said, “has access to the international banking system” and thus can easily check out the accounts. He said in a radio interview earlier on Sunday he expected the AMLC to touch base with the Paris-based watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Meanwhile, he challenged the President to issue waivers on bank secrecy to also disprove the senator’s allegations – first aired during the May 2016 campaign period – that “billions” had entered various accounts of the Dutertes.
Trillanes tried in vain to get the President’s son and son-in-law to issue waivers on their own alleged bank accounts at last Thursday’s (Sept. 7) Blue Ribbon hearing, as he claimed the sum totals of such accounts breached P100 million as of end-2016.
At the weekend, Duterte had promised to drop a bombshell soon – more details of alleged offshore accounts of trillanes ion various countries, including Australia, China and the US.
Over the weekend also, allegations of such Trillanes “offshore accounts” were made in the blogs of government radio anchor Erwin Tulfo, Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson and a Davao-based publisher.
IN an open challenge to Duterte, Trillanes flashed his waivers and said, “ngayon, hinihintay ko ang waivers mo. Magpakalalaki ka; hindi ka ililigtas ng baril mo sa tagiliran [Now, I expect you to issue your waivers, too. Be a man. The gun at your side won’t save you from this].”
Trillanes, while asking AMLC to check out the accounts, said initial investigation he made showed the accounts were fake and the so-called documentation was fabricated.
“In the next few days, I will file libel cases” against Tulfo, Uson and the Davao-based mediaman, Trillanes said.
“Hindi na pupwede ang fake news. Kayong mga Duterte, nanalo kayo dahil sa fake news. Hindi na pupwede iyan. Hahabulin ko kayo each time [The time of fake news is over. You won through fake news. But that time has passed. I’ll run after you each time you resort to it],” he said.
Earlier on Monday Trillanes IV said he would not only “disprove the lies” being peddled by President Duterte that he was hiding money abroad but would challenge the chief executive to also refute allegations that he had billions of pesos in his bank accounts that he did not declare in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
“Pipirma po ako ng waiver, naka-address sa AMLC, para malaman ang katotohanan d’yan sa mga ‘yan. At ipu-prove ko, hindi lang lilinisin ko ‘yong pangalan ko rito, kung di ipu-prove ko kung ga’no kasinungaling itong si Duterte,” he said in an interview with dzMM radio.
“I will take it a step further. ‘Yong mga bansa na sinabi n’ya, kukuha tayo ng isang bangko d’yan sa sinasabi n’ya, sasamahan ko mismo ang Ombudsman, mga media personalities, magwo-walk in kami d’yan sa mga bangkong ‘yan to find out the truth,” the senator said.
“Ang sa akin dito, pagka na-disprove ko na ito, ibabalik ko sa kanya ‘yan. Ako pumirma ‘ko ng waiver. Kailangan s’ya, pumirma rin ng waiver para lumabas ang katotohanan do’n sa bilyon-bilyong piso na account n’ya dito sa ating bansa palang,” added Trillanes.
Trillanes earlier claimed Duterte’s accounts had P2.4 billion in transactions
In April 2016, before the national elections, Trillanes alleged that Duterte had bank transactions amounting to P2.407 billion.
From 2006 to 2015, Duterte allegedly held seven joint accounts with his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio at the Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Julia Vargas Avenue, Pasig City; nine joint accounts at the BPI Edsa Greenhills branch; and one joint account at Banco de Oro Unibank-1 in Davao City.
Trillanes claimed deposits and transfers in the three banks totaled 71, of which 48 were credit memos and 23 were inter-bank transfers, including seven deposits amounting to P193 million, which were purportedly credited to Duterte’s BPI Julia Vargas account on March 28, 2014, the 69th birthday of the then Davao mayor.
Also in April 2016, Duterte denied Trillanes’ allegation and said that “I have an account, with a little less than 200 million.” Asked why he did not declare the P200 in his SALN, Duterte said, “I already spent it.”
27 offshore accounts?
Following Trillanes’ accusations that the President’s son, Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his son-in-law Manases Carpio were allegedly involved in smuggling and corrupt activities at the Bureau of Customs, the chief executive on Saturday claimed the senator owned offshore joint accounts with a Chinese businessman.
The President did not give details about the alleged accounts and also did not name the businessman but said that he would be “coming up” with evidence to show the lawmaker’s “bank deposits all over,” adding that he was already in possession of some of the proofs that Trillanes had hidden wealth overseas.
On Monday, The Manila Standard reported that according to a well-placed government official, Trillanes had 27 overseas bank accounts.
These allegedly consisted of two time deposits in Shanghai; three in Beijing; two in Singapore; two in Australia; three in Hong Kong; three in New Zealand; four in the Cayman Islands; four in the British Virgin Islands; and four in Switzerland — two in Zurich and two in Geneva.
The report quoted the same public official as sayihg that some of the time deposits were joint deposits with three different individuals, including Fabian Go, president of Granstar Finance and Development Corp.
‘I know Fabian Go, but I don’t have joint accounts with him’
On Monday, Trillanes admitted knowing Go but denied that he had offshore joint deposits with him or with anyone.
According to the senator, he has been friends with Go, a legitimate businessman, since his college days at the De La Salle University, where Trillanes where he took up B.S. in Electronics and Communication Engineering before he passed the Philippine Military Academy entrance exam.
“‘Yan po ay mga kaibigan namin sa La Salle noong college pa ako at mga legitimate na negosyante ‘yan.”
“Ako nga po sinasabi ko na kahit isa wala akong offshore account. Wala po ako whether under my name single or joint account with Fabian Go or whoever, wala po.”
He also confirmed that Go was among his consultants at the Senate but denied irregularities in the latter’s hiring.
“Isa po s’ya sa kinokonsulta ko sa economic front dahil hindi naman ako kilala na may alam sa ekonomiya. So (kung) titingnan n’yo ang resumé ‘nyan, meron s’yang PhD, nagtututuro ‘yan at nag-MNSA pa yata ‘yan,” said Trillanes.
[He’s one of those that I consult on the economic front because I’m not known as someone who has knowledge about the economy. If you will look at his resumé, he has a PhD degree, he’s teaching, and I think he also took up a Master’s degree in National Security Administration.]
Trillanes said his hiring of 63 consultants, including Go, in 2015 were all reported to the Commission on Audit (COA).
“Ni isang irregularity wala na silang (COA) nireport. Meaning, lahat ng transaksyon ko as a senator ay in order. Kaya nga hindi nila ma-file-an ng kaso, kahit na ano,” the senator said.
[Not one irregularity was reported by the COA. Meaning, all my transactions as a senator were in order. That’s why they can’t file any case.]