‘If impeached, I will shut down Congress’

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday accepted the challenge of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to open his bank accounts.

A document tweeted last night by TV5 reporter Junyee Loyola showed Duterte’s summary of deposits in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City from Dec. 31, 2015 to March 31, 2016 amounting to P17,668, and increasing to P27,024.09 by April 29, 2016. Loyola reported that Duterte’s lawyers provided the document.

The document was reportedly presented at a campaign rally in Daet, Camarines Norte.

Duterte said he has allowed his lawyer, Salvador Panelo, to open his bank accounts on Monday at the BPI branch on Julia Vargas Avenue.

“Be there on Monday so that at least Trillanes would know exactly if I have money (in that account),” Duterte told reporters shortly after a lunch meeting with Pasay City officials.

Duterte said he could not be present at the bank as he was going home to Davao City.

“Panelo will be there because he has been my legal counsel for so long,” Duterte said.

According to Duterte, he has called the BPI management to allow Panelo to open his bank accounts so that Trillanes could be informed that he has only “a little less than P211 million,” contrary to what he has been claiming.

Trillanes previously dared Duterte to open his bank accounts to allow the public to know who between them is telling the truth.

Trillanes, who is running for vice president, accused Duterte of having hidden wealth amounting to P211 million stashed at the BPI branch on Julia Vargas Avenue.

On Thursday, Trillanes challenged Duterte to meet him on Monday morning at the BPI branch and sign a waiver on his right to bank secrecy.

Duterte, however, did not categorically state how much is his savings in the bank, following the advice of his lawyer.

But he dared Trillanes to bring his statement under oath or an affidavit that would declare as to when, where and how he got the information on his bank accounts.

“I admit it, there is money there in that account but it is a little less than P211 million,” Duterte said.

No compromise

Trillanes, however, refused to take up Duterte’s challenge to bring an affidavit.

He said Duterte is trying to misdirect the public on the issue.

“He wants me to detail how I got the information. I won’t do that because I won’t compromise the safety of my informants,” Trillanes said.

“Let’s not complicate matters; sign the waiver and prove me wrong. If not, then in the eyes of the people, he is hiding ill-gotten wealth,” he added.

After being informed that Duterte has instructed Panelo to represent him at the BPI Julia Vargas branch and to open his bank accounts there, Trillanes said the entire history of those accounts should be examined and not just the current balances.

Trillanes said he has no doubt that the details he presented to the public regarding the account, particularly the P211 million in deposits made in 2014, would be seen in the records of the bank branch.

“Just to be clear, the opening of the accounts should not be limited to the current account balance alone. It should also include the transaction history for the past nine years,” Trillanes said.

“This is important because if Duterte has already withdrawn the money before Monday, then the total amounts would not be reflected on the current account balance,” he added.

BPI, on the other hand, denied any breach of its banking system following the allegations of Trillanes.

“Our internal investigation reveals that there is no such breach,” BPI corporate communications head Tricia Quiambao said in a statement.

The bank officials refused to issue further statements regarding the Julio Vargas branch and its link to the allegations made by Trillanes against Duterte.

On rumors that the bank’s system has been breached because of Trillanes’ allegations, Manuel Tagaza, senior vice president and head of the electronic channels group of BPI, said, “Not true. All systems are working as we speak.”

Trillanes claimed Duterte held seven joint accounts with his daughter Sara at the BPI Julia Vargas branch, nine joint accounts at the BPI EDSA Greenhills branch and one joint account at Banco de Oro Unibank-1 in Davao City, all from 2006 to 2015.

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