Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
The legal counsel of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte聽on Thursday聽disputed the claim of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that the mayor hired 11,000 ghost employees in Davao City in 2014.
鈥淚f the Commission on Audit (COA) found the hiring of contractual employees irregular, then it would have already filed a case against Duterte. But there鈥檚 none, so what is Trillanes talking about? He is a congenital liar and a publicity hound,鈥� Salvador Panelo, Duterte鈥檚 lawyer, said.
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) spokesperson Atty. Paola Alvarez said the accusation raised by Trillanes was an old issue.
鈥淭his is an old issue that Mayor Duterte has already explained as without any basis. The city government hired various employees and assigned them to different agencies for a certain period of time. They were contractual employees that the city government accommodated to give them temporary employment,鈥� Alvarez said.
搁贰础顿:听Duterte used bank accounts to launder funds from 鈥榞host workers鈥欌�揟rillanes
Alvarez then turned the table on Trillanes, asking, 鈥淲hy is it that your driver and household help are on the list of your Senate consultants?鈥�
Alvarez was referring to allegations against Trillanes that more than half of the monthly allocation for his office went to the salaries of his consultants, including a houseboy, family drivers, media workers, campaign donors, ex-mutineer-friends and a brother who was supposedly getting P71,200 a month.
She said Trillanes 鈥渟pent the biggest Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel even when he was in jail for the crime of launching two failed palace coups.鈥�
鈥淗e should explain who are the ghost recipients of pork barrel funds,鈥� she said.
Alvarez said the senator was only seeking attention.
READ:聽Duterte camp on plunder case: Trillanes only wants fancy attention
鈥淚t appears that Sen. Trillanes now only wants to throw allegations left and right so he will still be in the public eye since he is the perennial cellar-dweller in all surveys,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e are not bothered by the scurrilous allegations of Sen. Trillanes who is a vicious attack dog unleashed by Malaca帽ang to derail Mayor Duterte鈥檚 presidential bid,鈥� she added.
Alvarez also thanked the supporters of Duterte.
鈥淲e thank our supporters that despite all the baseless allegations thrown at us, we are still getting warm support from all sectors throughout the country. The bandwagon of change is unstoppable,鈥� she said. JE/rga
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