Trillanes, Bong Go chat, take selfie after Senate frigate probe

President Rodrigo Duterte’s ardent critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes, and staunch defender, Special Assistant to the President Christopher, talked and even had a selfie together Monday after the Senate inquiry into the P15.5 billion frigate project of the Philippine Navy.

Asked what they discussed, Trillanes said he just asked Go to have the executive department give in to the preference of Navy officials and get the Tactitucus Thales as the supplier of the combat management system for the frigates.

“Ang sinasabi ko is bakit hindi na lang ibigay ang gusto ng Navy, ‘yun na nga kailangan na dagdagan e,” Trillanes said.

He said Go promised to relay the message to concerned officials.

“Pararatingin daw niya sa mga kinauukulan. Sabi ko maganda na rin at least mawawala yung mga apprehensions and concerns ng Navy  sa Hanwha systems (as supplier of CMS),” Trillanes said.

During the hearing, former Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado and other Navy officials said they preferred Tacticus Thaless over Hanwha because the former was being used by top five armies in the world while the latter was utilized by Korea and Malaysia.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was with Trillanes and Go, confirmed that the two talked about the CMS.

“Nakikinig lang ako sa kanilang dalawa. Senator Trillanes was just asking the executive to consider the Thales defense equipment as it’s more superior than the Hanwha system,” Zubiti said in a message to reporters when asked on the matter.

Trillanes, Zubiri, and Go had a selfie after with the presidential assistant holding the phone. —NB, GMA News