MANILA, Philippines – Former president Rodrigo Duterte lost his temper during the House quad committee’s 11th day of inquiry into his bloody drug war on Wednesday, November 13, after his nemesis, ex-senator Antonio Trillanes IV, revived old allegations that suspicious funds were funneled into his family’s bank accounts.
Duterte grabbed his microphone and gestured to throw it at Trillanes. The former president’s lawyers approached him and tried to pacify him, as the hearing was suspended for seven minutes.
Trillanes, who was a resource person during Wednesday’s proceedings, delivered a presentation alleging that bank documents he received supposedly belonging to the Duterte family showed that P2.4 billion was deposited to Duterte’s and Sara Duterte’s bank account from 2011 to 2015.
He also claimed that Duterte’s 2016 campaign contributor, Sammy Uy, deposited P120 million to the bank accounts of Duterte family members. Former Davao Death Squad insider Arturo Lascañas alleged in an affidavit submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that Uy was connected to the drug trade.
“We can see the pattern. The drug lord would pay dividends to the Duterte family every October and April, and it happened regularly. We can see that Vice President Sara has two checks that were cashed there. This was while she was mayor. That is direct bribery,” Trillanes said in Filipino.
Trillanes has since dared Duterte to sign a bank secrecy waiver, but the former president refused to do so.
On Wednesday, Duterte made bold statements to dispute Trillanes’ statement.
“I will sign the document tomorrow and hand it over, since the lawyer still has to prepare it. But I said, if there’s even an iota of truth to what’s being said, I will hang myself in your presence. I will invite you all to witness it,” Duterte said.
Deputy Jay-jay Suarez also asked Duterte if he would be willing to sign the bank secrecy waiver during the hearing, but Duterte provided another caveat to his statement.
“In exchange for what? Should I slap him [Trillanes] in public?” Duterte said, just before things between him and Trillanes almost turned physical.
When the hearing resumed after the brief suspension, Duterte apologized for his behavior.
Despite the heated exchange, Duterte was noticeably tamer compared to his appearance at the Senate drug war probe in October, where he made profanity-laden remarks. This was due to the constant reminder of quad committee leaders at the start and during the hearing, for Duterte to observe proper decorum.
For the most part, Duterte didn’t curse, but the hearing was suspended at least seven times by quad committee co-chair Ace Barbers to remind Duterte not to talk over lawmakers who were asking him questions. – Rappler.com