MANILA, Philippines – Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Tuesday, November 27, that he would voluntarily go to jail if President Rodrigo Duterte could prove that the lawmaker’s parents were involved in questionable deals with the Philippine Navy decades ago.

Trillanes made the statement a day after the Chief Executive announced a government investigation into the alleged anomalous deals involving his father, the late Navy Captain Antonio Trillanes Sr; and his mother Estelita.

“I welcome Duterte’s statement on probing the supposed transactions of my deceased father and my 84-year-old mother. In fact, I’ll raise the ante. If he finds anything anomalous, again, I would voluntarily walk into any detention facility kahit sa Davao pa (even if in Davao),” Trillanes said in a text message.

Trillanes had said his father retired from the Navy in 1988 and died in 1998. His mother is suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, he added.

The senator hit back at the Chief Executive and called him out for his lack of action on huge drug shipments into the country, such as the  P6.4-billion and P11-billion worth of shabu shipments that were subjected to congressional probes.

“Pero, in the meantime, magpanggap man lang sana siya na galit siya at ipahanap kunyari ‘yung drug lord na nagpasok ng P6.4 billion at P11 billion shabu shipments. Napaghahalataan tuloy na siya nga ang nasa likod ng mga shabu shipments na ‘yan,” Trillanes said.

(But in the meantime, he should at least feign anger and order the arrest of the drug lords who brought in the P6.4-billion and P11-billion shabu shipments. It’s getting obvious that he’s behind those shabu shipments.)

Duterte first alleged in September that Trillanes’ mother was a supplier for the Navy while his late father was still in active service, implying a possible conflict of interest.

On Monday, Duterte again raised the issue and announced that the government was probing the supposed contracts and deals of the senator’s parents.

“We are investigating ‘yung mga deals sa panahon ng tatay pati nanay niya (the deals during the time of his father and mother). You can be very sure na lalabas lahat ‘yan (everything will come out),” Duterte said in a speech during the groundbreaking of the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project.

Trillanes had denied all the allegations. He earlier said no cases were ever filed against his mother. 

Trillanes, one of Duterte’s fiercest critics even during the 2016 election campaign, has been the subject of the President’s tirades. Last year, he alleged that Trillanes’ had “secret” offshore accounts and vowed to “destroy” him, but the senator disproved the allegation and even Duterte later said he “invented” the bank account numbers.

In early September, Duterte issued Proclamation No. 572 voiding the 2011 amnesty granted to Trillanes and ordering his arrest. The Department of Justice filed motions for Trillanes’ arrest before two Makati courts where he faced rebellion and coup d’etat charges, but the senator remained free after one court granted him bail, while the other junked a government plea to have him rearrested. – Rappler.com