MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is now officially a free man.
The former rebel military officer and 94 others took their oath of allegiance to the Constitution at Camp Aguinaldo to complete the amnesty process yesterday.
Trillanes took his oath at the office of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin around 7:30 a.m. before attending the Senate inquiry on the plea bargaining agreement between former military comptroller Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
Last December, the court hearing the coup d’etat case against Trillanes gave him a furlough, pending the grant of amnesty.
The other former rebel soldiers took their oath before Gazmin at the Armed Forces Commissioned Officers’ Club at around 1:30 p.m.
The Department of National Defense has so far approved amnesty applications filed from Jan. 4 to 10.
Former lieutenant Ashley Acedillo, Magdalo spokesman and one of those who took oath, said the amnesty brought back normalcy to their lives.
“We will always bring with us our advocacy against corruption and the quest for truth,” he said.
Marine Capt. Gary Alejano, who was tagged in the Oakwood mutiny, said their application for amnesty does not mean that they are absolving former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of alleged corruption and other misdeeds.
With their right hands raised, the amnesty applicants swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and obey the laws and lawful orders promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Philippines.”
A total of 115 applications for amnesty have been submitted from Jan. 4 to 10, according to data from the ad hoc amnesty committee.
Of this number, 38 are officers and 77 are enlisted personnel. Those who failed to attend yesterday’s event are expected to take their oath next month.
Trillanes and the Magdalo rebel soldiers mutinied and took over an apartment-hotel in Makati in 2003 to demand the resignation of then President Arroyo.
Trillanes was elected senator in 2007 when he ran under the Genuine Opposition ticket.
The amnesty covered more than 300 officers and enlisted personnel implicated in the Oakwood mutiny, the 2006 Fort Bonifacio standoff, and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege.
Enlisted personnel with the rank of technical sergeant and below would be reinstated into the service.
The DND amnesty committee will accept and process applications until March 31.