After weeks of silence, Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday denied that there were billions of pesos’ worth of transactions in her bank accounts and blasted not just former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for these allegations, but also the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for now being part of a ‘machinery.’
In a lengthy statement issued hours after she responded to the ‘last-minute’ travel authority for her, Duterte said Trillanes, one of her fiercest critics, has been ‘peddling the same incredible story about alleged billions in bank accounts.’
‘From 2016 to 2026, nothing in his narrative has changed,’ Duterte said. ‘What has changed, however, is the machinery now backing him.’
The embattled vice president alleged that Trillanes is now being backed by the ‘machinery,’ which she said included her former political ally and now nemesis, President Marcos, whom she said ‘must be compelled to submit to a simple drug test,’ referring to the repeated calls for a hair-follicle test.
She also claimed that the House lawmakers have also been a part of the so-called ‘machinery’ backing Trillanes, accusing them of receiving ‘maletas and having repeatedly disregarded constitutional limits on her impeachment.
This time, however, Duterte included the COA, supposedly ‘backing’ Trillanes, questioning the timing of the state audit agency’s issuance of its findings on the use of her confidential funds ‘in a manner that conveniently aligns with political attacks.’
Lastly, she also criticized the newly-installed AMLC officials ‘who remain silent and refuse to clarify that there have been no findings of violations of anti-money laundering laws, and the billions of peso in bank accounts are untrue.’
Amid all the accusations against her, Duterte said she has one ‘simple’ response to the ‘attacks’ against her: her service record is ‘clean.’
‘[H]indi ako kailanman nagkaroon ng kaso sa paggamit ng pondo ng bayan. Lahat ng aking ari-arian at pera ay idineklara ko sa aking SALN (Not once have I been charged for using public funds. All of my properties and money are declared on my statement of assets, liabilities and net worth),’ she said.