Teodoro to Trillanes: Submit evidence on Sara Duterte-China claims so it could be investigated

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Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro said allegations that Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband Mans Carpio received money from the Chinese government "raise serious implications for national security."

The allegation was made by former senator Antonio Trillanes, who said the couple got hundreds of millions from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China through the foundation of the Vice President and Carpio's company.

Teodoro urged Trillanes to submit evidence, so it could be "thoroughly investigated."

"The allegations of Fmr. Senator Trillanes, if substantiated, raise serious implications for national security. He should submit the evidence in his possession, if any, to our law enforcement authorities so the matter can be thoroughly investigated," Teodoro said in a statement on Saturday.

Duterte’s camp has denied Trillanes’ claims, calling them "malicious and fabricated."

“The Vice President would gladly sue him for these endless fabrications, but we have already witnessed how those who actively peddle malicious lies against her and her family are openly protected and propped up by this administration," Duterte's spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said.

He also slammed Trillanes for not stating these claims in the Senate impeachment court, where he could have been under oath. The vice president's defense team also was not able to question him.

"This sudden retreat is absolute proof that his claims cannot survive real legal scrutiny, and are nothing but black propaganda, which is par for the course for a professional character assassin," Panelo said.

He also slammed Trillanes for not stating these claims in the Senate impeachment court, where he could have been under oath. The vice president's defense team also was not able to question him.

"This sudden retreat is absolute proof that his claims cannot survive real legal scrutiny, and are nothing but black propaganda, which is par for the course for a professional character assassin," Panelo said.

Trillanes was withdrawn Thursday as a witness for the prosecution in the Senate impeachment trial of Duterte.

The former senator said he requested House prosecutors to withdraw him, as he would conduct a press conference wherein he would reveal everything that he would have disclosed in the trial.

Trillanes also claimed that he was unwelcome in the impeachment trial, but the impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol dismissed this. —VAL, GMA News