FORMER senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV on Wednesday told the House Committee on Justice that former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte had admitted in 2016 that he kept a BPI account in Pasig and failed to declare its contents in his SALN, as he read and submitted his affidavit during the hearing on Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged unexplained wealth.
The point was among the pieces of background Trillanes laid out before the committee as it examined whether there was probable cause to proceed on the impeachment topic involving wealth and nondisclosure.
In his affidavit, Trillanes said Rodrigo Duterte acknowledged both the existence of the account and the failure to declare it after being challenged to sign a waiver of secrecy of bank deposits.
“Noong 2016, inamin mismo ni Rodrigo Duterte na una, na totoo na mayroon nga siyang bank accounts sa BPI – Julia Vargas Avenue Branch sa Pasig, at pangalawa, na nabigo siyang ideklara ang nilalaman ng nasabing bank accounts sa kanyang SALN,” Trillanes stated.
He added that the admission came after he had directly pressed Rodrigo Duterte to authorize scrutiny of the account.
“Ang pag-aming ito ni Rodrigo Duterte ay naganap matapos ko siyang hamunin na lumagda ng waiver of secrecy of bank deposits,” he said.
Trillanes then reproduced in his affidavit the portion of Rodrigo Duterte’s media statement in which the former president referred to a deposit amounting to nearly P200 million.
“Sa panayam ni Rodrigo Duterte sa media, ipinagtapat niyang mayroon humigit kumulang sa 200 Million Pesos (Php 200,000,000.00) na deposit sa naturang bangko ang inilihim niya sa kanyang SALN, sa partikular,” Trillanes recounted.
“A little less than 200 million, hindi naman ganon kalaki. Kasi walang account na 200 Million, a little less than 200 million… Wala na, ginastos ko na, naghappy-happy ako – a little less than a million,” Duterte allegedly said according to Trillanes in his affidavit.
He said a copy of the interview video was downloaded from Rappler’s official YouTube account and attached to his affidavit as documentary support.
“Ang kopya ng video ng naturang panayam ni Rodrigo Duterte sa media, na siyang inilathala ng Rappler sa kanilang official Youtube account noong ika-29 ng Abril 2016, ay na-download ko at naka-save sa USB at ginawang bahagi ng Salaysay na ito bilang ANNEX ‘C’,” he said.
Trillanes also reminded the committee that he had already acted on the matter in 2016 by filing a complaint-affidavit before the Office of the Ombudsman.
“Noong ika-5 ng Mayo 2016, nagsampa ako ng isang Complaint-Affidavit laban kay Rodrigo Duterte sa Office of the Ombudsman batay sa mga nabanggit na ultimate and evidentiary facts,” he stated.
He said the 2016 complaint-affidavit was attached to the current affidavit as another annex, placing the present House proceedings in continuity with his earlier filings.
“Ang kopya ng Complaint-Affidavit na may petsang Mayo 05, 2016 ay kalakip dito at ginawang bahagi ng Salaysay na ito bilang ANNEX ‘D’,” Trillanes said.
