OPPOSITION Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday told Solicitor General Jose Calida “to shut up and just do it”—referring to the latter’s threat to charge him with coddling confessed hit men Arturo Lascañas and Edgar Matobato.
Calida earlier questioned why Trillanes was hiding and protecting the confessed criminal Lascanas, who admitted to several killings including his two brothers.
“They can threaten me all they want but I will continue to fulfill my mandate to expose the truth about President [Rodrigo] Duterte and stand up against the blatant misuse and abuse of power by his administration,” stressed Trillanes.
Lascañas and Matobato admitted they were part of the so-called Davao Death Squad, which they said was created by Duterte when he was Davao City mayor and used to kill suspected criminals, personal enemies and political opponents.
Trillanes also told Calida his boss (Duterte) was a murderer so “he’s the coddler.”
The Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson is set to investigate Lascañas’ exposé against Duterte.
Meanwhile, Trillanes shot back at Duterte for saying he was “too insignificant to bother with” when asked if the latter would follow Senator Leila de Lima’s fate.
“If I am insignificant, why are your knees shaking?”
De Lima, Duterte’s fiercest critic in the Senate, has remained detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame over drug charges.
Trillanes said Duterte should open his bank accounts to the public if only to disprove his claim he has at least P2.2-billion ill-gotten wealth stashed in banks.
According to Trillanes, he will quit from the Senate if his allegations about Duterte’s bank accounts are not true.