Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was summoned by the Department of Justice to appear at the preliminary investigation of a kidnapping complaint filed against him by a businesswoman from Davao City.
But Trillanes, who earlier downplayed the accusation, said that the case is clearly another fabricated allegation from the Duterte administration.
“In the first place, I haven’t even met this woman in my life,” said Trillanes, referring to the complainant, Guillermina Arcillas.
“Based on the information given to me, this person, like the infamous Bikoy, approached the religious community to seek sanctuary because of her supposed damaging information against Duterte,” said Trillanes.
In the meantime, Trillanes said the complainant asked different overseas Filipinos for financial support for her plight.
But once they noticed that she had only been making up stories to extort money, they stopped sending.
He said the complainant then turned to the other side and started claiming that she has been forced by those who gave her sanctuary.
In short, Trillanes said the complainant is accusing a priest and a nun, for kidnapping her in a convent.
“But then for political impact, she included me in her allegation. That’s as absurd as Duterte saying that I didn’t apply for amnesty. Just the same, my lawyers would be presenting lots of evidence to debunk this fantastic allegation,” explained Trillanes.
The former senator said that the allegation against him is another desperate measure of the Duterte administration to persecute and silence the political opposition.
Trillanes was sent a subpoena to show up before the DOJ prosecution panel in Manila on Oct.11 at 2 pm. He was also directed to submit his counter-affidavit to the charges filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group on behalf of Arcillas.
“You are hereby warned that failure on your part to comply with the subpoena shall be considered as waiver of your right for investigation to verify and confirm the allegations of your complaint and the case shall be considered submitted for resolution based on the evidence on record,” said Assistant State Prosecutor Gino Paolo Santiago.
Arcillas had claimed that Trillanes conspired with Fr. Albert Alejo, lawyer Jude Sabio, and a nun to detain her in two convents for 14 days in December 2016.
She was barred from going out until she signed what she said was a “ready made” affidavit. She insisted the affidavit was destructive to the reputation of the Duterte administration.
Furthermore, the affidavit would accuse President Rodrigo Duterte of involvement in the drug trade.
Although Barrido’s account informed a separate complaint, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), lawyer for the CIDG, tried to introduce it as “additional” evidence to the sedition charges against Trillanes, Vice President Leni Robredo, and more than 30 others earlier this month.
But the DOJ panel handling the sedition complaint rejected the attempt, saying the OSG itself had previously claimed that its original evidence — essentially the affidavit of Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy — was sufficient to indict the respondents.
Arcillas was the same witness against Trillanes who claimed in 2017 that she was coached and bribed to testify that Duterte was involved in the drug trade.
Trillanes had denied the accusation, saying it was Arcillas who had volunteered the information against Duterte to Sabio way back in 2016, but that they decided she was not credible.
