By: Genalyn D. Kabiling
President Duterte has denied allegations of Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV that he bought details on his supposed foreign bank accounts from a supposed financial forensic expert for P10 million.
Trillanes has identified a certain Daniel “Snooky” Cruz as the source of the President’s allegation on his alleged offshore accounts. He did not identify any Palace official who supposedly paid for such information.
Duterte denied knowing Cruz and said he will not spend any amount for Trillanes.
“Ang kilala kong si ‘Snooky’ ‘yung artista pati ‘yung sa comics, sa totoo lang,” Duterte said.
“I will not spend any single centavo for him,” Duterte added.
Duterte has access to information as Chief Executive and does not need to pay for such data, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said yesterday.
Panelo disputed Trillanes’ allegations that the Palace bought information from Cruz.
“Unang-una, ang Presidente ay may access sa maraming impormasyon all over the world being the President, marami siyang kaibigan ding Presidente, marami siyang access, hindi niya kailangan iyon,” Panelo said in a radio interview.
“Pangalawa, it’s doubtful na magbibigay siya ng pera sa isang tao, because by the very nature of his position ay meron nga siyang access,” he added.
Panelo added there was no need to sell information to the President since the act alone will put a person on the President’s good side.
“Iyong tao naman, eh ba’t namang magbebenta iyon, eh kung magbibigay siya ng impormasyon sa Presidente, magkakaroon ng mabuting pakikitungo sa kanya. Kumbaga, magkakaroon ng utang ang Presidente sa kanya, eh ba’t naman siya magpapaba-yad pa?” he said.
Malacañang said there was nothing new on the expose of Trillanes about Cruz.
According to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, they stand by the statement of the Anti-Money Laundering Council that the total amounts of Duterte’s alleged bank accounts are wrong and misleading.
He also said that Trillanes failed to provide evidence to back up his claims that Duterte bought the information from Cruz.
“On a certain Daniel ‘Snooky’ Cruz, who is the alleged source of PRRD’s information on the purported bank accounts of the senator abroad, again Mr. Trillanes did not present any proof, except photos of Mr. Cruz with the President and other government officials, which are obviously taken from social media,” Abella said.
“In the end, Sen. Trillanes’ ‘expose’ was as empty as the hall he spoke in,” he added.
Duterte has accused Trillanes of having various bank deposits abroad, saying his information came from a foreign country angry with the senator.
The Chief Executive later admitted he made up the bank account of Trillanes in Singapore to catch him lying. Trillanes has denied the allegations.