A second plunder complaint involving P16 billion was filed by former senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV against former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Sen. Christopher "Bong" T. Go before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

This time, Duterte, Go and 10 other persons were named as respondents in the P16 billion Philippine Navy's (PN) Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) that was awarded to the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI) in 2016.

In his complaint filed on Wednesday, August 7, Trillanes alleged that Duterte and Go manipulated the transaction in favor of the private contractor.

Trillanes filed his first plunder complaint, involving P6.6 billion, last July 5, also before the DOJ. It involved the multi-billion-peso government contracts reportedly awarded in favor of Go's father and half brother during the administration of Duterte.

Explaining his second complaint to journalists, Trillanes said: “Ito ay ukol sa P16-billion frigate scam na kung saan ay nagmaneobra sina Duterte, Bong Go para paburan ang isang private contractor (This is about the P16-billion frigate scam where Duterte and Go manipulated the deal in favor of the private contractor)."

Also named respondents in the second complaint were former Department of National Defense (DND) undersecretary Raymundo DV Elefante, former Presidential Management Staff-Office of the special assistant to the President (PMS-SAP) undersecretary Lloyd Christopher A. Lao, retired Philippine Navy Admiral Robert A. Empedrad, retired Colonel Leodegario Dela Paz, FAP Technical Working Group (TWG) legal officer Marlon B. Dayao, HHI executive vice president and owner Kisun Chung, HHI senior general manager Ki Young Sung, HHI local representative Sandra Han, and Joung Woo Byun.

They were accused of plunder in violation of Section 2 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7080, the Anti-Plunder Law, as amended; violation of RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution; and betrayal of public trust.

The FAP, which was initiated by the administration of late former President Benigno S. Aquino III, sought the acquisition for the PN of two brand new frigates which are armed with missiles and are at par with the modern warships of other countries,

Trillanes said that "nagbigay ng specifications ang Philippine Navy kung ano ang kailangan nila na gamit at ito dinaan sa bidding process (The PN gave specifications of what it needs and did this through a bidding process).”

 “Pero ‘nung nanalo na sa bidding biglang iniiba ng kontratista ‘yung mga nakalagay sa napag-usapan (After a winning bidder was chosen, the contractor wanted to change what was stipulated in the contract),” he alleged. 

“Dahil sa kanilang contacts, in this particular case, si Bong Go at si Duterte, ay pinilipit nila ‘yung kamay ng Philippine Navy para lunukin at tanggapin ‘yung mga pabor doon sa private contractor (Because of its contacts, in this particular case, Bong Go and Duterte insisted what they like and the PN was forced to accept the changes in favor of the contractor,” he also alleged. 

When the then flag officer of the PN resisted, Trillanes said “ang ginawa ni Duterte tinanggal s’ya sa pwesto at naglagay siya ng isang bata n’ya na opisyal na willing tanggapin ‘yung anomalous na contract na ‘yun (Duterte removed the PN flag officer and replaced him with one of his men who was willing to accept the anomalous contract).”

 “Dahil d’yan dumagdag ‘yung kita ng private contractor at the expense of the Philippine Navy (Because of that, the private contractor earned more at the expense of the PN),” Trillanes lamented.

Trillanes assured “complete ‘yung documentary evidence, testimonial evidence at eto nga mismong si Duterte ang nagsabi na nanghimasok siya sa kontrata na ‘yan (we have complete documentary evidence, testimonial evidence and even Duterte made public admissions about his interference in the contract).”

 “Sa SONA n’ya sinabi ito. Inutusan n’ya si Bong Go (Duterte said this in his State of the Nation Address. He said he instructed Go to do it),” Trillanes claimed. 

 In his affidavit-complaint, Trillanes stated: “Respondent Duterte, then President, through Respondent Bong Go, with the assistance of Respondent Lao and the other Respondents in this case, actively interfered during the negotiations and/or execution of the Contract Agreement of the FAP, to the grave and utter prejudice of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Navy (PN), the Government and Country.”

He said that the frigates could have been used “to conduct patrol in the West Philippine Sea, and to protect and guard the perimeter of the Philippine islands, to achieve some level of credibility and respect from potential adversaries and threats.”

“However, the boundless greed of the respondents and other people in power have simply stripped the nation of its precious opportunity to uphold our sovereignty and the chance to enhance national security by deliberately pushing for the installation of a Combat Management System (CMS) in the two (2) brand new frigates which is clearly inferior to that originally specified in the relevant contract for the Project, for the obvious reason of lining their pockets with ill-gotten gains,” Trillanes said in his complaint.