By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL
Photos and video by LUIS LIWANAG
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WAS it a test of honor? Whose?
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, armed with an affidavit, arrived at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Julia Vargas Branch Monday.
The affidavit was the vice presidential candidate’s answer to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s challenge: execute a formal affidavit disclosing the source and details of his investigation and Duterte will issue a waiver to open his bank accounts.
Alas, no transaction records of the presidential candidate’s bank accounts were released.
The Duterte camp through lawyer Salvador Panelo instead came with a special power of attorney asking for the bank account’s balance and not the complete transaction history.
This prompted Trillanes to call the mayor a liar.
“Sabi ni Duterte at ng mga abogado niya, pipirma raw siya ng waiver para makita (ang) bank accounts transaction history kung gagawa ako ng affidavit (Duterte and his lawyers said he would sign a waiver to open the bank accounts transaction history if I issue and affidavit),” Trillanes said in a text message.
“Ang hiningi lang nila ay balanse at hindi transaction history. Samakatuwid, may tinatago sa bayan si Mayor Duterte, at ang akusasyon kong may P2.4 billion na transaksyon ay hindi niya napagsinungalingan (But what they only asked for was the account balance and not the transaction history. Therefore, Mayor Duterte is hiding something from the people, and my accusation that he has P2.4 billion in transactions wasn’t proven wrong),” he added.
Last week, Trillanes shared a document with the media showing a bank account shared by Duterte and his daughter, Sarah Z. Duterte.
There were 10 deposits. Eight of which totaled more than P193 million and were made on March 28, 2014, the mayor’s 69th birthday.
The deposits were not included in Duterte’s 2014 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), which only recorded a net worth of around P21 million. (See The evolution of Duterte’s BPI account)
Earlier, Trillanes said he will resign as senator and withdraw from his vice presidential bid if the mayor proves him wrong.
Trillanes’ affidavit mentioned a certain Joseph de Mesa as the source of the information, but refused to bring him to the public for security reasons.
“Wala talaga siyang balak buksan. Maghahanap na naman siya ng palusot (He has no plans to open the account. He’ll find another excuse),” Trillanes said.
Supporters of Trillanes and Duterte also lined up at BPI, awaiting the face-off.