Trillanes admits meeting Duterte for possible team-up in 2016

SINGAPORE—Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday admitted meeting President Rodrigo Duterte a year before the 2016 elections for a “possible team-up.”

But Trillanes said it is wrong for Duterte to claim that he was rejected as a vice-presidential candidate.

Trillanes said he met Duterte on April 2015, when the President, then city mayor of Davao, said he was not going to run for the presidency.

“Noong panahon na yun, siya mismo ang nagsabi sa buong Pilipinas na hindi siya tatakbo. Ngayon, paano ako nag-apply sa kanya na ni-reject niya ako, eh, hindi ka nga kandidato eh?” Trillanes told reporters in an interview in Singapore.

Trillanes was in Singapore to refute Duterte’s claims that he owns foreign accounts, particulary with the DBS Bank. He was told that he had no account with the bank.

Last week, Duterte claimed he rejected Trillanes’ plea to be his running mate in the 2016 elections.

Trillanes said that when he learned that Duterte was not interested in running, what was supposed to be an “exploratory” meeting turned into a “social conversation.” 

“Ang objective ng meeting, exploratory for a possible team-up, pero ang sabi niya, hindi siya tatakbo. Wala na kaming pinag-usapan. It became a social conversation,” Trillanes said.

“Eh wala naman siyang sinabi eh. Ang sinabi niya, may pinatay siya, pinagmamalaki niya paano niya pinatay. Nagpapa-impress siya sa’kin eh hindi naman ako na-i-impress eh. Lalo ang naging impression ko sa kanya, may diperensya sa pag-i-isip, para ‘tong hitman,” he added.

He said he also considered teaming up with the Liberal Party’s (LP) candidate, former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

Trillanes eventually ran for the vice presidency as an independent candidate, placing only fifth in the official tally.

Duterte’s running mate was former Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, now secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. —NB/KVD, GMA News