Trillanes claims Ombudsman confirmed Duterte bank deposits

SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV said Thursday
that he feels vindicated after the Ombudsman confirmed that the
documents submitted to them by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)
on the bank accounts of President Rodrigo Duterte are "more or less" the
 same as the ones he exposed to the public.

But Malacañang warned Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang that he
may be subjected to administrative sanctions for making public the bank
transactions of the President and his family.

In an interview, Carandang confirmed they received bank transactions
coming from AMLC, generated by the council for "intelligence purpose".

When asked if the documents he had received from AMLC were the same as
the ones Trillanes had submitted, Carandang said, "More or less, they
have the same details."

"This proves not only that my allegations about his billion-peso bank
accounts are true, but also that Duterte has fooled a lot of people into
 believing that he is not corrupt," said Trillanes.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trillanes first made the
allegation that President Duterte's had at least P2 billion in credits
and deposits in numerous bank accounts under his name.

He reiterated the same allegations in February this year.

Duterte, for his part, earlier said he will step down if his critics can
 confirm that he has P200 million in his bank account. 

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, however, said
Carandang's revelation regarding the purported bank transactions of
Duterte and his family was tantamount to a violation of Section 3(f) of
the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and
Employees, or Republic Act (RA) 6713.

He cited that under RA 6713, the release of "investigatory records"
containing information that could be used for legal proceedings was
prohibited.

"We remind Carandang, however, that investigatory records compiled for
law enforcement purposes to the extent that the production of such
records deprives a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial
adjudication should not be disclosed while the proceedings are ongoing,"
 he added.

Trillanes filed a plunder complaint against Duterte before the Office of
 the Ombudsman in May 2016.

The senator has repeatedly claimed that the President's bank
transactions amounted to P2.4-billion 2006 to 2015 allegedly accumulated
 from illegal activities.

With Trillanes' plunder case against the Chief Executive, the Ombudsman
formally requested the AMLC to obtain Duterte family’s bank records.

Carandang, who was tasked by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to handle
 the corruption allegations hurled against the presidential family,
revealed that the documents from AMLC were similar to documents
presented by Trillanes.

He, however, said the money went in and out of Duterte family's bank
accounts.

Amid the investigation, Panelo said Duterte "has nothing to hide."

Panelo said Duterte's bid to resign if his Trillanes validates claim
against him only proved that he has been transparent regarding his
family’s wealth.

He also appealed to the President's "detractors" not to spread "false
news and innuendos against him and his family."

"It is noteworthy to mention that the alleged bank records of the
President, assuming for the sake of argument that they are correct, do
not necessarily indicate that he is hiding money in the total amount of
more than P1 billion and that the same is ill-gotten," Panelo said.

"As stated by news reports, the alleged amount was computed based on
‘in-and-out’ bank transactions of the President’s family through the
years. Hence, this does not sufficiently prove that the President has
accumulated money in the total amount of more than P1 billion at any
given time," he added.