MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s camp on Saturday threatened legal action against former senator Antonio Trillanes IV over what it called “malicious fabrications” against her and her family.
“The Vice President would gladly sue him for these endless fabrications,” Duterte spokesman lawyer Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said in a statement responding to Trillanes’ latest allegations involving supposed Chinese funding linked to Duterte’s husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio, and an organization associated with the vice president.
Panelo, however, pointed to what he described as Duterte’s camp’s experience with people who make allegations against her and her family, citing Ramil Madriaga and Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. as examples of individuals he claimed were “openly protected and propped up by this administration.”
He described Trillanes’ latest claims as “malicious fabrications” and accused the former senator of repeatedly raising allegations against the Duterte family involving extrajudicial killings, drug links, unexplained wealth, corruption and supposed connections to China.
Rather than testifying under oath before the Senate impeachment court, Panelo criticized Trillanes for presenting his allegations at a press conference, where Duterte’s defense team could not cross-examine him.
“Instead of defending his claims under oath, he chose the comfort of a safe and scripted press conference where his lies could once again go unchallenged,” Panelo said.
For the vice president, Panelo said, the evidence presented before the Senate impeachment court should determine the matter.
“Confident that the law, the facts, and the evidence are squarely on her side, the Vice President will let the evidence before the Senate Impeachment Court speak for itself,” he said.
