(Eagle News) — Former Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said he would file complaints against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for “viciously destroying my name, maligning my reputation and integrity, and for deliberately manufacturing lies and spreading black propaganda against me.”
The libel charges stem from Trillanes’ statements implicating the presidential son in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment mess in May 2017 last year.
Trillanes had alleged in a Senate inquiry into the shabu shipment mess that the younger Duterte was a member of the so-called Davao Group that is involved in smuggling activities.
The lawmaker also claimed the presidential son was part of the “triad,” or an international crime syndicate, based on a supposed tattoo the younger Duterte had on his back.
The presidential son denied all allegations.
“Senator Trillanes manufactured lies and deliberately spread these lies with the obvious intention of destroying my name and maligning my reputation, with a view to impacting negatively against our beloved President,” the younger Duterte said.
According to him, Trillanes was “apparently emboldened by his false reliance on and abuse of his parliamentary immunity.”
“But this immunity does not apply to libelous remarks made during media interviews, clearly as these attacks were done outside the halls of the Senate — and definitely not when these were discharged with the pure intention of destroying me,” the younger Duterte said.
In a television interview, Trillanes said he would face the charges to be filed against him even if they would have “no basis.”
“I was able to establish the direct link and other circumstantial link sa major players na nag-import ng droga,” he alleged.
