LOOK: 34 Senators vote to remove Trillanes on Senate

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday said he has asked the Senate blue ribbon committee to summon a certain “Small Abellera,” a member of the so-called Davao Group claimed by Customs broker Mark Taguba.

Trillanes earlier told the committee investigating the P6.4-billion shabu shipment smuggled from China that the alias “Small” refers to Small Abellera, a councilor in Davao City.

“So the question is, why would a councilor from Davao City be dealing with some brokers? And this Small Abellera is known in Davao City to be very close to Paolo Duterte,” Trillanes said on ANC, referring to Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, son of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I have formally requested the blue ribbon committee about it so that we can trace and we can also test the credibility of Mr. Taguba,” he said.

Taguba earlier said that a certain Small, Jack, and Tita Nanie had been invoking the Davao Group in their transactions in the Bureau of Customs (BOC). Paolo is allegedly behind the said group.

Trillanes claims Tita Nanie refers to a certain Lourdes Rosario, which the senator also wants summoned to the blue ribbon probe. He also wants an invitation be sent to Hernani Co, chief of BOC’s auction division, which was earlier identified in a House committee hearing as Tita Nanie.

“This is personal knowledge as far as Taguba is concerned because he was dealing personally with this Davao Group,” he said.

In Wednesday’s hearing, Deputy Commissioner Gerardo Gambala said he could “hear noises” about the Davao Group.

“I could hear noises, I could hear people’s names. I could just hear Davao Group but the people behind it, I don’t know that,” Gambala said. —KG, GMA News