MANILA – Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV slapped former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go with plunder and graft complaints in connection with P6.6 billion worth of infrastructure projects during the previous administration.
Also named as respondents in the cases filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday is Go’s father Deciderio and half-brother Alfredo, who are supposedly contractors of projects involving the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The former senator also included a complaint of violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees against Duterte and Senator Go.
Trillanes said that, based on Commission on Audit documents, Deciderio’s CTLG Builders was awarded 125 public works projects from 2007 to 2018 worth P4.89 billion.
Alfredo’s Alfrego Builders and Supply, on the other hand, bagged 59 projects from 2007 to 2018 amounting to P1.74 billion.
“Clearly enough, there is a concurrence of all the elements of plunder in this case,” said Trillanes, who noted that the two companies were allegedly not qualified to bid for big-ticket projects under the Contractor’s License Law.
In the complaint, the losing vice presidential candidate also noted the close relationship between the former president Duterte and Senator Go.
“The very close and intimate personal and official relationship between Respondent Go and Respondent Duterte, whom he fondly calls as ‘Tatay Digong’, is widely and publicly known and universally acknowledged,” he said.
Trillanes, a vocal critic of the Duterte administration, has asked the National Prosecution Service of the DOJ to initiate a preliminary investigation and subsequent filing of cases before the courts./PN
