President Duterte Links Trillanes Bank Accounts To Destabilize Government

President Rodrigo Duterte has accused his staunch critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, of using his supposed offshore bank accounts to finance the destabilization plots against the government.

In a recorded interview with broadcaster Erwin Tulfo aired on state-run PTV4 on Friday, September 29, President Duterte revived his claim that Senator Trillanes has several bank accounts overseas, despite his earlier admission that he “invented” the bank account number of the senator.

The President said his source from a foreign country found that Senator Trillanes allegedly deposited money in his bank accounts for his personal agenda to remove him from office.

“Based on the analysis, the funds being laundered by Senator Trillanes and his group may not be for their personal use but rather it is being used for their cause and possibly to destabilize government,” President Duterte said.

The spat between President Duterte and Senator Trillanes has started when the senator accused the former Davao City mayor that he had undeclared wealth amounting to P211 million and bank transactions reaching P2.4 billion from 2006 to 2015.

The President hit back at Senator Trillanes as he first revealed on September 9 that he was aware about the alleged anomalous records of Senator Trillanes’ numerous bank accounts in different countries.

On September 15, President Duterte alleged further that Senator Trillanes, along with supposed dummies, has several bank accounts in Shanghai, China; Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland; and in Singapore.

Four days after, Senator Trillanes personally went to DBS Bank-Alexandria branch in Singapore and was told by a bank teller that the bank account number 178000296012, which was provided by President Duterte, was non-existent.

President Duterte then recanted his statement about Senator Trillanes’ alleged Singapore bank account, admitting that he invented lies to trick the senator.

But on his latest interview with Tulfo, he claimed that Senator Trillanes managed to close his bank account in Singapore through online process on September 8, days before he attempted to dispute his allegation. 

“He terminated it online on September 8, 2017, past 10 p.m., and then left for Singapore after that to show his waiver of the bank teller in Singapore that he has no account,” President Duterte said.

The President insisted that Senator Trillanes made several international fund transfers to certain individuals in 2016.

He added that the senator deposited a meager amount in his bank accounts so he could avoid investigation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

“He deposited a small amount of money because if you total the amount of [money deposited from all his bank accounts], it will reach the limit that is questionable as to how you get such money,” President Duterte said.

Watch the video report below via PTV:

Source: PTV