By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL
HIS exposés on Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s supposed hidden wealth and wrongdoings as chief executive of Davao City might seem to have come too late as the presidential derby enters its homestretch.
“Pero hindi po ako nagkulang (But I have done my part,)” said Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who himself is running for vice president.
And the senator, who had stood up against the alleged corrupt practices of Vice President Binay and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, against whom he led a “mutiny” in 2003 when he was a Navy lieutenant, is optimistic there is enough time to unseat Duterte if he wins, or even before he holds office.
If elected, Duterte will assume office on June 30. Under the Constitution, the president can be removed from office by impeachment by the House of Representatives and subsequent trial by the Senate.
Trillanes’ statements come amid the latest presidential surveys showing Duterte maintaining his lead despite controversies arising from his rape joke on an Australian missionary, an insensitive remark on persons with disabilities, his statement on closing down Congress and allegations of hidden wealth.
On Friday, President Benigno Aquino III also called for a “united front” against what says is a threat to democracy should the presidential frontrunner win.
Trillanes said all his recent findings on Duterte’s alleged corrupt practices contradict the Davao City mayor’s image of a politician who claims to live a simple life.
“So, sanahindikomoiniidoloniyoitosi Mayor Duterte ay malinaako. Hindi po. Yung katotohanan eh masakit man perotalagangkailangannyotanggapin (So, even if you support Mayor Duterte, that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I’m not. Truth hurts but you have to accept it,)” he said.
On Thursday, the senator filed before the Ombudsman a plunder case, among other criminal and administrative charges, against Duterte.
He was armed not only with bank transaction records, but a government audit report on 11,000 alleged ghost contractual employees under Duterte’sand his daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio’sterms as city mayor.
In 2014 alone, the hiring of these employees, whose daily time records were manipulated, cost the government P708 million, the Commission on Audit reported in 2015.
The COA report said the city lacks policy on the hiring of employees under contract services.
“Identification of persons to be hired for such nature rests directly upon the recommendation of the department heads and other officials of the city,” the COA report read.“These conditions cast doubt that entries in the daily time record of these employees are manipulated, thus regularity and validity of the related expenditures could not be ascertained.”
Durtertes are accountable
The amount, Trillanes said in his complaint-affidavit, has “apparently been transacted and/or laundered through the subject bank accounts of Mayor Duterte and his children.”
In July 2015, a news report quoted Duterte dismissing the findings of the COA audit. He instead passed the blame to former city mayor Benjamin de Guzman, who served from 1998 to 2001.
“The mayor before me did it. De Guzman did it. Wala ako ginawa, basta ang pera dumaan sa ganito (I didn’t do anything). If I can produce one worker of the 11,000, magsabi na may piso na dumating sa akin, magre-resign ako bukas, at magpapakulong ako (if someone says I benefited from the money, I will resign and bring myself to jail),” Duterte said.
But records show it was his daughter, Sara, whom he preceded. And the audit report was published under his watch.
Duterte held the mayoralty post from 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010, and 2013 to present. When he was not city mayor, he served as representative of the city, or as vice mayor to Sara. His son, Paolo Duterte, is the incumbent vice mayor.
“This clearly (shows) that (Rodrigo and Sara) cannot escape responsibility for the said anomaly,” Trillanes said.
Undeclared wealth?
Last week, the senator accused Duterte of having undeclared wealth of P211 million in a joint bank account with his daughter, Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, in the Bank of Philippine Islands, the existence of which Duterte categorically denied. (SeeThe evolution of Duterte’s BPI account)
Only when a number of individuals tried to deposit money to the bank account did Duterte admit its existence.
Trillanes said it was a certain Joseph de Mesa, a former Duterte supporter, who leaked to him documents, which he got from a close relative who was working with an agency that investigates corruption.
His expose prompted Duterte to challenge Trillanes to execute a formal affidavit before he would disclose the contents of his bank account.
Trillanes showed up at BPI on Monday, but no transaction records of the mayor’s bank accounts were released. Duterte’s lawyer instead came with a special power of attorney asking for the bank’s account balance, and not the complete history. (SeeBrouhaha at the bank)
On top of undeclared bank accounts, Trillanes also claimed that Duterteshave at least 40 properties, including houses, condominiums and lots.
Duterte earlier said three of said properties were given to him as donations from his friend of 30 years, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who gave him vehicles such as Ford Expedition, Safari and allowed him to used his aircraft.
Trillanes said Duterte’s public admission that he accepted gifts of substantial value violates the conduct and ethical standards for government officials. Unexplained wealth, meanwhile, could be basis of administrative suspension.
In total, Trillanes filed five charges against Duterte:
- Malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code
- Violation of Section 3 (g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act
- Plunder
- Money laundering
- Violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees
“Mayor Duterte is a fraud. Siya ay isang kurakot na mayor. For a long time, nalinlang po ang mga kababayan natin (He is a corrupt mayor. For a long time, our citizens have been fooled,)” he told reporters.
Trillanessaid he hopes the audit on ghost employees would open floodgates for more pieces of evidence, and eventually, prompt the people to change their minds.
“Proof naitong (audit report) na hindi ito sabi-sabi, hindi ito gawa-gawa, at meron tayong basis (This proves that the allegations are not just hearsay; they aren’t made-up either. We have basis.)”Duterte’s ties with JomaSison
Trillanes also warned the public of a “coalition government” with communists if Duterte becomes president.
Trillanes showed an excerpt of a video of Duterte’s web conversation with Jose Maria Sison, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), who is in Netherlands.
In the video, Duterte vowed to be “the first president from the Left.”
“I will follow the pattern of socialism, Sir. Sinabi ko na sa kanila (I say this) in public, in every meeting, I am a socialist. Though I am not a member of the communist party, I am socialist. And I belong to the left,” Duterte said.
In reply, Sison suggested the inclusion of the agenda of a leftist president in Duterte’s campaign.
Trillanes called Duterte a “disciple” of Sison.
He also expressed fears on a plausible power-sharing between communists and Duterte, which is “little known” to the public.
“Sila ang mamumuno ang ating bansa, at ako ay nangangamba na gigibain nila ang ating democratic institutions (They are the ones who will run our country, and I am worried that they will destroy our democratic institutions),” Trillanes said.
He said peace talks is the solution instead of power-sharing as proposed by Duterte.
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