Prosecution checks Trillanes exposé

The House prosecution panel will verify former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s allegations against Vice President Sara Duterte using official bank, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), and tax records after the former lawmaker opted not to testify in the impeachment trial.

In a radio interview, House prosecution panel spokesperson and former Congressman Robert Ace Barbers said Trillanes’ allegations were serious and should not be taken lightly.

“We have seen that what he said carries serious weight and is not just ordinary information,” Barbers said.

“The next step is to compare these with all the records of the AMLC, banks and the BIR so that we can determine the truth behind Sen. Trillanes’ exposé,” he said.

Barbers said Trillanes had claimed that his research team obtained information from bank, AMLC, and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) records, which were pieced together for the exposé he presented during a press conference.

“If these indeed came from these official records, this week we will be able to present the AMLC and bank managers, and from there we will see whether there is truth or basis to what Sen. Trillanes revealed,” Barbers said.

“If it is proven that these are reflected in the records, then we can say that his exposé carries significant weight because it has a basis,” he added.

The spokesperson also said the prosecution had prepared to present the former senator, but Trillanes apparently decided against taking the witness stand so he could discuss his allegations without being constrained by objections during the proceedings.

“We really prepared to present Trillanes in the trial before the Senate. But it appears that he himself decided not to take the witness stand so that there would be no restrictions on what he wanted to say,” he said.

“If, for example, he presented his testimony before the court or the impeachment court, there would likely be many instances when he would be prevented from proceeding and would not be able to fully explain his story regarding his exposé,” he added.

The former congressman also acknowledged Trillanes’ claim that there had been external pressure against presenting him as a witness, but stressed that this was the former senator’s own assessment.

“He will no longer appear because he believes there is pressure to prevent him from being presented as a witness. That is his opinion,” Barbers said.