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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Panelo: Trillanes' plunder rap vs Duterte, Go over frigate deal a 'political propaganda'

Panelo: Trillanes' plunder rap vs Duterte, Go over frigate deal a 'political propaganda'

Published Aug 8, 2024 12:43 am

Former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo called out former senator Antonio Trillanes IV for filing a second plunder complaint against former president Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go over the allegedly anomalous Philippine Navy (PN) Frigate Acquisition project.
 

PRRD_Go.jpg(From right) Former president Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Bong Go. (Richard Madelo/AP Photo)

 

In a statement on Thursday, Aug. 8, the former Duterte administration legal counsel described the plunder case a “political propaganda.”
 

“The publicity seeking renegade rebel is on his wicked and lying ways again,” Panelo said.
 

“The history of this incorrigible case filer speaks for itself. All the cases he filed against FPRRD and Sen Christopher “Bong” were all intended for political propaganda purposes. Nothing has come about those cases simply because they were baseless,” he added.
 

Panelo, a staunch Duterte ally, stressed that not only was Trillanes trying to “besmirch the reputation of the two,” but he was also trying “to call attention to himself having been politically irrelevant for years.”
 

“The new charge is a rehash of the charges he made in 2018. A senate investigation was conducted about the so called frigate purchase anomaly but the two were cleared of any involvement on the transaction,” he claimed.
 

Trillanes, a retired Philippine naval officer, filed the complaint on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
 

It stemmed from the P16-billion frigate project, which involved buying two state-of-the-art warships for the PN.
 

According to the former senator, the PN provided the specifications for what they needed, which then underwent a bidding process.
 

But after the contractor won the bid, they suddenly changed the items that were agreed upon. South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries won the bid.
 

This apparently led to the removal of former Navy chief Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado, who allegedly did not heed Duterte’s instructions to accept the changes in the contract.
 

Mercado was replaced by Admiral Robert Empedrad, who allegedly approved the changes in the contract and brought billions of profits to the contractor.
 

Also included in the complaint were Empedrad, former Defense Undersecretary Raymundo Elefante, former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, and seven private individuals.

Related Tags

plunder frigate deal antonio trillanes iv Rodrigo Duterte
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