Trillanes claims Vice Mayor Duterte is a member of Triad

September 7, 2017

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV alleged Davao City Vice Mayor Paulo Duterte on Thursday as a member of the Triad in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on shabu smuggling.

Asked by Trillanes if Duterte has a tattoo on his back, the vice mayor said yes. Trillanes then said, citing intelligence community sources, that he has a tattoo in his back. "This is proof that he belongs to the drug Triad."

Duterte did not reply to Trillanes during the first round of questioning, but in the second round, when Trillanes pushed the same question and asked him if he is willing to show if he has a tattoo on his back, Duterte replied "no way" twice.

"Why not, if you have nothing..." asked Trillanes. Duterte replied :" Mr Chair, how many times do I have to say I don't want?"

Trillanes then asked Duterte if he had a PNB bank account in Sta Ana, Duterte said: "Do I have to answer that irrelevant question?" "I refuse to answer. I invoke my right to privacy," Duterte added as he invoked his right to privacy under the Bank Secrecy Law.

"Are you invoking your right against self-incrimination?," said Senator Richard Gordon, head of the Blue Ribbon Committee. "Yes," said Duterte. DMS