Trillanes, Duterte lawyer face off at BPI Julia Vargas

MANILA, Philippines- Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s legal counsel has met with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday, May 2 at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Julia Vargas branch in Pasig City in order to address the hidden wealth accusations of the lawmaker to the tough talking mayor.

The camps of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV meet up for a face off at BPI Julia Vargas.
The camps of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV meet up for a face off at BPI Julia Vargas.
Atty. Sal Panelo, Duterte’s lawyer, was authorized to open the presidential candidate’s bank account and issue a bank certification that the presidential aspirant never amassed P211 million.


“I have addressed the bank to issue the necessary documents. Based on the records of the bank, walang P211 million sa kanyang deposit mula pa noong ito'y binuksan niya at hanggang ngayon,” Panelo told GMA News.

Trillanes, who is currently running for vice president, has alleged the PDP-Laban standard bearer of failing to declare P211 million in his ”secret” BPI accounts at Julia Vargas branch in 2014. Although Duterte agreed to open his bank accounts in order to disprove Trillanes’ claims, he demanded that the senator execute an affidavit on his accusations as well as name his sources first.

Panelo added that Trillanes needs to prove the existence of the money since bank secrecy laws prohibit banks and employees to disclose account details of its clients.

“Mayroong batas na nagsasabing hindi puwedeng mag-reveal ang bangko na anumang impormasyon kaugnay sa deposito ng isang kliyente. Nakalagay din sa batas na nagbabawal sa isang empleyado na maglabas ng impormasyon sa deposito sapagkat sila ay idedemanda sa ilalim ng batas,” Panelo explained.

(There’s a law that prohibits the bank from revealing any information about the account of a client. It is also indicated in the law that an employee is prohibited from revealing any information about the client’s account since they can be sued under the law.)

Furthemore, Panelo revealed that they will not be disclosing the entire history of Duterte’s bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Trillanes told ABS-CBN News that he has issued an affidavit yet Duterte still refused to sign the waiver or open his bank account.


Kapamilya actor Robin Padilla also expressed his support for Duterte by showing up at the face off. A vocal supporter of Duterte, Padilla threatened to withdraw all his money from the Ayala-owned bank because of the “political hack job” against his presidential bet.

“Meron tayong batas na dapat sinusunod. Dapat si Sen. Trillanes, sinasabi niyang isang senador, hindi niya dapat sinasabi na walang rule of law... Magwiwithdraw muna ako,” Padilla said.

( We have a law to follow. Sen. Trillanes shouldn’t say that there is no rule of law. I will withdraw first.)

LOOK: Sen. Trillanes executes affidavit in exchange for Duterte’s bank secrecy waiver

--Mini, The Summit Express



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