Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed drug smuggling and graft charges against Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, lawyer Mans Carpio (husband of Vice President Sara Duterte), and former Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, among others, before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“[This is the perfect time to file the case] because they have lost control of the judiciary as manifested by a few instances particularly the granting of bail to Sen. Leila de Lima and eventually the case was dismissed,” Trillanes told reporters in Filipino after his petition.
Also named as respondents in the complaint were former Presidential Adviser Allen Capuyan, Davao City Councilor Small Abellera, alleged notorious drug lord Charlie Tan, and four others.
The case originated from the May 2017 seizure of P6.4 billion worth of shabu weighing 600 kilograms in a Valenzuela warehouse after it was released by the BoC at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
Trillanes said their initial lead came from a series of public hearings conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which revealed that the subject contraband was given a “green lane” passage to slip through the BoC’s alert system and were not subjected to physical inspection and document verification.
While drug lord Tan, Michael Yang’s partner, shared the same triad, Duterte and Carpio served as their protectors, and Faeldon, together with Capuyan were the facilitators, according to Trillanes.
In total, Trillanes charged the 10 respondents for violation of Section 4 in relation to Section 26(a) of Republic Act (RA) 9165, otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002” as amended by RA 10640; and RA 3019, otherwise known as “The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”
“Here you can see that Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ is fake. Thousands of suspected drug addicts were killed, but they themselves were the protectors and partners of the big-time drug lords. They just killed the competition in the illegal drug trade,” Trillanes emphasized.
The former senator added “the conspiracy to import the subject shipment from China to the Philippines necessitated the crucial interventions of the ‘powerful insiders.’”
Trillanes is confident that they have gathered enough documentary and testimonial evidence to back-up their claim.
Meanwhile, he also claimed the International Criminal Court (ICC) has already requested Interpol to put former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa under ‘blue notice.’
Dela Rosa was named along with former top PNP officials including Generals Oscar Albayalde, Edilberto Leonardo, Eleazar Mata, and ex-CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) chief and current Northern Luzon commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr.
A ‘blue notice’ is an international request for cooperation to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.”
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: Trillanes files drug raps vs. Paolo Duterte, VP’s husband, ex-customs chief
