The usual critics readily handed their verdict that the latest visit of President Rody Duterte to China was a failure just when news broke that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a kidnapping with serious illegal detention complaint against coup plotter Antonio Trillanes IV and his sidekick lawyer Jude Sabio.

“Until early March, Atty. Sabio kept on changing my affidavit (until it reached a seventh revision) but still I did not sign because it was filled with lies and my conscience bothered me.

Sabio, of course, gained notoriety for filing a crime against humanity complaint on Rody at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague based on a compilation of figures from yellow media that was fed by the propaganda machinery that included Trillanes.

Trillanes, Sabio, Father Albert Alejo and a certain Sister Ling of Convent of Cannussian Sisters were charged of abducting trader Guillermina Lalic Barrido from Davao del Norte.

Apparently, the group of Trillanes made the same offer that eventually fell on the lap of Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy” who tried to link Rody and members of his family to narcotics and other criminal acts in Davao City.

In her affidavit, Barrido claimed she was detained like a prisoner at the Convent of Cannussian Sisters in Makati in December 2016.

She claimed the priest, Alejo, gave her a plane ticket from General Santos City to Manila and that she was picked up and brought to Makati convent before being transferred to the Holy Spirit Convent by Alejo, Sabio, Sister Ling and an alleged staff of Vice President Leni Robredo.

Alejo was also the Catholic priest whom “Bikoy” named as being involved in the destabilization efforts against Rody.

“It is clear from the foregoing that herein respondents feloniously, maliciously, and intentionally put the complainant under detention for 14 days in order to force her to do something against her will,” the PNP-CIDG complaint read.

Barrido claimed that a staff of Trillanes when he was still a senator offered her P500,000 as initial downpayment and another P500,000 after a case is filed against Duterte before the ICC.

The supposed fake witness against Rody said Trillanes and his ilk were desperate for a stooge in their demonization efforts after luring Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, who are supposed Davao Death Squad members.

In September 2016, Alejo asked her to be a witness to link Pres. Duterte to the illegal drugs as they are building “a case against President Duterte before the ICC.” She said the group started giving her money which totaled P100,000.

She claimed Sabio with Alejo “coached” her on what to accuse the President while Trillanes was represented by a staff member named Jonel. Barrido was then asked to sign an affidavit linking the president to the drugs trade since she said that the group of Trillanes had ran out of ammunition on extrajudicial killings.

Such allegations backfired since Rody’s survey ratings remained high. Having a woman witness is more credible, the lady trader quoted the group of Trillanes as saying.

By December, an affidavit was presented her but she refused to sign it saying it was full of lies and so incredible, “so I told them I need to go home in Davao and consult my family, and until early March Atty. Sabio kept on changing my affidavit (until it reached a seventh revision) but still I did not sign because it was filled with lies and my conscience bothered me.”

Barrido added that a group chat consisting of “troll accounts” of members and supporters of the Liberal Party gave her pointers on how to convince Filipino-American communities in the United States to criticize Rody.

Sabio admitted giving her money but only for “relocation to protect her and her family” but he said Trillanes’ group abandoned her as a witness after arguments over money.

He maintained that he still thinks Barrido’s testimony against Rody, scripted as it was, is credible and that “she just had to make a choice to survive.”

The pathetic group of Trillanes apparently buys off all the witnesses they can lay their hand on in the effort to demonize Rody.

Money overflows but their credibility stays empty.