FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte has confirmed plans to file a libel suit against former Senator Antonio Trillanes III for accusing him and his family of amassing wealth while holding powerful positions.
The decision stemmed from the documents presented by Trillanes during the House quad committee hearing on Nov. 13.
Duterte made this announcement during a Facebook live broadcast with former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo.
He said it’s high time that Trillanes must suffer the consequences of his actions as they have been very lenient of him for so long. The former senator was a known critic of the Dutertes and even reportedly helped lawyer Jude Sabio in filing a case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2017.
However, Sabio withdrew his complaint as he claimed that it was orchestrated by Trillanes and opposition forces to bring down the former president.
Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) previously denied the authenticity of the bank records presented by Trillanes at the quad committee hearing.
The two agencies insisted they could not hand over any documents without authority from the account holder because they would be breaching bank secrecy laws.
Duterte further said that if Trillanes could prove his allegations about his family’s supposed suspicious bank deposits, he would order Vice President Sara Duterte and Mayor Sebastian Duterte to step down.
As of this writing, Trillanes has not yet issued a public statement regarding Duterte’s planned legal action.
Screenshot photo of Rhoda Grace Saron
