WHO is he? None other than former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
These days, he’s busy doing media interviews. Why? Because he has filed charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Bong Go over alleged corruption in flood-control projects. Trillanes says it was Go who cornered the biggest contracts.
I saw him holding papers he claimed were connected to the case he filed with the Office of the Ombudsman. In video clips, reporters from GMA, Bilyonaryo News Channel, Net 25, ABS-CBN and others surrounded him with microphones. But no matter how hard I looked, I didn’t see SMNI — the network owned by a pastor from Davao City who is now in prison, just like his good friend, also detained abroad.
The cases reportedly involve plunder, graft and other charges. According to Trillanes, Go’s father and brother have had major joint ventures in flood-control projects since 2016 with the Disquayas. He pointed out that one of the enterprises even carries Go’s initials — CLTG — for Christopher Lawrence Tesoro Go. Trillanes says that, despite Go’s denials, he was a major player in these deals during the Duterte presidency.
Every vlogger seems to be interviewing Trillanes these days. One of them, a certain Jojo A., asked why he is “obsessed” with the Dutertes. Trillanes corrected him: the term is “mission.”
In another vlog, he laughed at a joke: “If a thing falls, it goes to the sahig (floor). But when an abusive leader falls, he goes to The Hague.” The vlogger came up with that one.
Asked about being labeled the Marcos administration’s “attack dog” against the Dutertes, he said that’s what DDS supporters say when they run out of arguments.
And I remember that Senate investigation last year, when he presented what he claimed were bank records of the Duterte family — Rodrigo, Sara, Pulong, Baste and Honeylet — allegedly receiving millions in deposits every April and October during Duterte’s presidency.
Trillanes recommended issuing bank waivers to verify the records. He claimed the deposits were the family’s “share” in a supposed drug cartel involving a certain Sammy Uy.
Duterte responded with a threat: “Sampalin ko ito! Ngayon na!” The outburst ended the hearing and the matter was shelved.
That’s Trillanes for you. And he keeps reminding the public that long before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Gen. Nico Torree helped facilitate the trip of a certain individual to The Hague last March 11, he and lawyer Jude Sabio had already started the process back in 2017. Sabio, from Misamis Oriental, filed a communication before the International Criminal Court. Trillanes often notes how long the process takes to prosper.
So, yes — that’s the ‘Sonny’ guy.
Recently, in a chat with my nerdy friend Mike, I said that Trillanes seems to make every Philippine president his “kontrabida.”
“No,” Mike said. “He was friends with Noynoy. He even helped facilitate the ‘escape’ of Edgar Matobato, one of the so-called assassins.”
So is Trillanes a hero? Or a villain?
Take your pick.
