Cong. Duterte welcomes case as venue to clear name

DAVAO City First District Representative Paolo Z. Duterte sees filing a drug smuggling case against him as a good move and a good way to clear his name on the long-standing accusation against him.

This is after former Senator Sonny Trillanes pushed the Department of Justice to file a case for drug smuggling against Cong. Duterte, including his brother-in-law Atty. Mans Carpio, former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, and other individuals regarding the P6.4 billion drug shipment in 2017.

"Mas maganda ito dahil sa korte ng Pilipinas ang pagdinig at hindi sa korte ng Facebook at utak ng isang trililing na sundalong kanin," the son of former president Rodrigo Duterte said.

Duterte said it is better to settle the matter in court than continuously throw allegations against him without evidence.

The lawmaker said he had nothing to do with the accusation.

"I welcome Antonio Trillanes' plan to file a drug smuggling case against me,” Duterte said.

Trillanes on Wednesday, July 31, filed drug smuggling charges before the Department of Justice against Duterte and others.

In a 47-page complaint, Trillanes cited the legislative inquiry held in 2017 at the Senate which led to the filing of criminal charges against Chen Ju Long, aka Richard Tan, and Mark Taguba in connection with the shipment of shabu inside the vessel Guang Ping Voyage No. 1719S which arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) of the Bureau of Customs in Tondo on May 2017.

The shipment went through the Bureau of Customs express lane and the shabu shipment left the MICP International Container Terminal Services Inc. in a vehicle registered under Golden Strike Logistics Inc. owned by Taguba.

Tan, during the Senate proceedings, claimed to be an informant of the Chinese government who tipped Philippine customs officials of the drug importation.

However, Tan was identified by Taguba as the one who engaged his services, adding that he dealt with Tan through a middleman, Kenneth Dong.

Citing Taguba's testimony, the complaint alleged that the broker apparently engaged the services of the so-called Davao Group. With reports from RGL, PNA