Altermidya
The Duterte dynasty is facing more criminal cases as former senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed drug smuggling charges against them at the Department of Justice this morning, Wednesday.
Named as respondents in the complaint are Davao City Rep. Paolo (Pulong) Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio.
Also named as respondents were government officials during the Rodrigo Duterte presidency, such as former Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, former Presidential Adviser Allen Capuyan, Davao City Councilor Small Abellera, alleged drug smuggler Charlie Tan, and four others.
“This morning, I filed a case against Pulong Duterte and other members of the Davao group smuggling syndicate. This is the result of the Senate investigations conducted in 2017, in which we have identified Pulong, Charlie Tan, and Mans Carpio, as the masterminds behind the Php6.4 billion shabu shipment that was allowed to slip through Customs in collaboration with its Commissioner Nic Faeldon and former Presidential Adviser Allen Capuyan who was known as the ‘Big Brother,’” Trillanes said.
On May 26, 2017, a staggering P6.4 billion worth of shabu weighing more than 600 kilograms were seized by authorities from a warehouse in Venezuela City, after it was released by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee then conducted a series of public hearings that revealed the contraband was given a “green lane” passage to slip through the BoC’s “alert system” without actual inspection and document verification.
“The conspiracy to import the subject shipment from China to the Philippines necessitated the crucial interventions of the ‘powerful insiders’- the corrupt customs leadership, and more importantly, the very powerful protectors who used their influence to consummate this unlawful crime of importation of billions of pesos worth of dangerous drugs into the country,” Trillanes revealed.
Trillanes said the 10 respondents violated both the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9165) and The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019).
In September 2017, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) already filed a criminal complaint before the DOJ against Faeldon in connection with the shabu shipment.
“It can be seen in this case that Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’ was fake. Thousands of suspected drug addicts were killed, the respondents themselves are big time drug lords,” the long-time critic of the Dutertes said.
“They only eliminated their competition in the illegal drug trade,” Trillanes said.
The respondents have yet to respond to Trillanes’ filing.
Earlier this month, Trillanes filed plunder charges against former president Duterte, close ally Senator Cristopher Go and the latter’s family for “irregular” public works projects worth Php6.6 billion pesos across decades.
READ: Trillanes slaps Duterte, Go with plunder charges
Trillanes is also among those who filed crimes against humanity complaints against former president Duterte and his allies before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Tuesday the government Philippines cannot stop the ICC prosecutor from interviewing persons of interest in its investigation on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, indicating the investigations are ongoing despite efforts by the past Duterte government to stop the proceedings. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
