DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go has challenged Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to a “one-on-one” in whatever form to once and for all put an end to the senator’s tirades against him.

“Kung gusto mo one-on-one na lang tayo. Basta one-on-one na lang tayo. Bahala na kahit anong one-on-one. Kahit saan, bahala ka na kung saan (if you want, let’s go one-on-one. It’s up to you, what kind of one-on-one. It’s up to you where to hold it),” Go said on Thursday.

Go pointed out that Trillanes has been accusing him of a lot of things, including his plan to enter politics despite his denial that he will not run for senator in the 2019 elections.

He also took a swipe at Trillanes, citing the time the former renegade navy official staged a coup only to surrender in the end.

“Senator Trillanes, ikaw nga nag coup d’etat ka, umatras ka naman, sumurender ka naman. Anong klaseng coup d’etat yan, huwag kang sumurender (you staged a coup, but you withdrew, what kind of coup was that, don’t surrender), that’s all,” he said.

Trillanes has been lambasting Go for being very visible in public engagements the past few weeks, which the senator said is an indication of the President’s most trusted aide’s interest in politics.

The senator likewise pointed out Go has just been putting up an act with the intention of running for the Senate in next year’s polls.

Go stressed he is not a politician and that he is only reaching out to people on behalf of the President, who has a busy schedule.

Trillanes and other government critics alleged that Go is already preparing for a Senate run as evidenced by the streamers and tarpaulins popping up in conspicuous places bearing his picture and the words “Ready, Set, Go!”

“I’ve been silent about it, but he (Trillanes) criticizes it. It’s not my fault if there was someone who put it, because I have no control over them,” he said.

Go pointed out that many slogans use the word “go” and “ready, set, go” is just one of them.

Go stressed that no matter how many times he tells his supporters to stop pushing him to run for the Senate, they remain persistent.

He said Trillanes should not worry since he will also ask his supporters to put the senator’s face beside his.

Go also asked his critics as well as those in the opposition to instead join the government and work for the welfare of the people.

Trillanes accepts challenge

Trillanes has accepted the “one-on-one” challenge of Go, not to a duel, but a disclosure of assets to the public.

In a statement yesterday, Trillanes agreed to the one-on-one challenge of Go if this were “pirmahan ng waivers (signing of waivers).”

“Partida na kahit kasama pa niya amo niya (he can even bring along his boss),” Trillanes said, referring to President Duterte.

Trillanes said this would be a more meaningful challenge, one that he has been throwing at the President for sometime now.

“Because Duterte has been saying that Bong Go is a billionaire, so let’s see where his wealth came from,” he said.

Since the campaign period for the 2016 elections, Trillanes has been daring the President to sign a waiver on the secrecy of bank deposits so that the public could see how much money he has kept in various banks.

Trillanes claimed the President and his family has accumulated over P1 billion over the years and that he has the bank records to prove this.

He has signed his own waiver and dared the President to do the same, which Duterte has ignored.

The President has denied the allegations of Trillanes and even said that he is willing to be shot if anyone can prove that he has more than P40 million in banks.

Trillanes said he was so confident about his proof against Duterte that he is willing to resign as senator and walk straight into any jail of Duterte’s choice if proven wrong. – With Marvin Sy