Duterte revokes Trillanes' amnesty for Magdalo mutinies
MANILA, Philippines (11:42 a.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the amnesty granted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in January 2011 as void.
In his Proclamation 572, Duterte claimed that the senator "did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation."
The president has ordered the Department of Justice and court martial of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to pursue all criminal and administrative cases filed against Trillanes in connection with the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007.
Duterte proclamation revoking amnesty granted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for participation in mutinies against the Arroyo administration | @kristinepatag pic.twitter.com/94PEOsBxTI
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 4, 2018
According to the proclamation, Trillanes did not apply for amnesty and "never expressed his guilt for the crimes that were committed" during those mutinies.
A January 6, 2011 report by The STAR notes, however, "Trillanes and 18 other Magdalo officers submitted their application forms to the Department of National Defense Ad Hoc Amnesty Committee at about 2 p.m. in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City."
"It’s (coup) a technical charge that has elements that needs to be proven… Let me be clear, we admit guilt as far as rising up against the most corrupt president this country ever had," the former Navy officer told reporters then.
He said in the same report, as in other reports on his amnesty application in 2011 that "[w]e are man enough to admit that we have broken rules in the pursuit of a moral cause and we faced it like men."
Trillanes, who was elected senator while in detention, also said: "We were imprisoned and the others were separated from the service so it's very easy for us to agree to that (admission of guilt)."
According to an ABS-CBN News report on the application for amnesty, "Trillanes signed a portion acknowledging his involvement in uprisings that entail 'a violation of the 1987 Constitution, criminal laws, and the Articles of War' and recanting his statements in the past that are contrary 'to this express admission of involvement/participation and guilt.'"
The military and police were also directed to arrest Trillanes "so that he can be recommended to the detention facility where he had been incarcerated for him to stand trial for the crimes he is charged with."
Proclamation 572 was published as an advertisement in the September 4 issue of the Manila Times.
Trillanes: No amnesty granted if I did not apply for it
In a televised interview with Senate reporters, Trillanes called the proclamation "bogus", saying the best proof that he applied for amnesty is that he was granted it.
"Imagine, bakit ako bibigyan ako ng amnesty kung hindi ako nag-apply (why would they give me that if I did not ask apply for it? That is a very, very clear requirement kasi yun yung tatanggapin mo yung conditions ng nag-grant ng amnesty (you have to accept the conditions of the one granting amnetsy)," he said.
He added that he does not have a copy of his application form. "I have the amnesty certificate, that's what matters," he said in Filipino.
He added, however, that if security personnel come to arrest him, he will not resist arrest nor try to escape. He said he will not resist since soldiers sent to arrest him are only doing their jobs.
He said he will exhaust all legal remedies and will continue working at the Senate until the arrest is effected.
"I will not dignify [this foolishness]. They know it, I know it... this has no basis. They just made this up ," he also said.
Aquino's amnesty proclamation
President Benigno Aquino III granted the amnesty through a proclamation in 2010 that Congress concurred in.
The amnesty proclamation covered active and former police and military personnel and "[extinguished] any criminal liability for acts committed in connection, incident or related to the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines Stand-Off and the November 29, 2007 Peninsula Manila Hotel Incident without prejudice to the grantee’s civil liability for injuries or damages caused to private persons."
Trillanes, a lieutenant, senior grade, at the time of the Oakwood Mutiny, applied for amnesty in 2011. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
This is a developing story.
President Rodrigo Duterte has revoked amnesty granted to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in 2011 in relation to his involvement in mutinies against the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Duterte claims in Proclamation 572 that Trillanes "did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation."
President Benigno Aquino III granted the amnesty through a proclamation in 2010 that Congress concurred in.
The amnesty proclamation covered active and former police and military personnel and "[extinguished] any criminal liability for acts committed in connection, incident or related to the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines Stand-Off and the November 29, 2007 Peninsula Manila Hotel Incident without prejudice to the grantee’s civil liability for injuries or damages caused to private persons."
Trillanes, a lieutenant, senior grade, at the time of the Oakwood Mutiny, applied for amnesty in 2011.
The Court of Appeals reaffirms the ruling of a Makati court judge to deny the government's appeal to arrest former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV over a revived coup d'etat case.
The CA rules that Judge Andres Soriano did not commit grave use of discretion, contrary to the claim of the Office of the Solicitor General.
"Therefore, it cannot be said that the grant of amnesty in favor of private respondent was validly revoked. As a result, the charges against private respondent in connection with the offenses "forgotten" or forgiven by the amnesty must be necessarily dropped," the CA says.
The continuation of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV's trial for a rebellion case has been moved to May as the Court of Appeals denies his petition for a TRO against it.
The CA denied the petition for TRO for the trial at Makati RTC Br. 150 saying doing so would mean granting the main prayer without trial.
Court of Appeals denies Sen. Trillanes’ plea for TRO vs rebellion trial at Makati court. Court says issuing a halt order would mean granting prayer for main petition, without trial. The court ordered Makati Judge 150 Alameda, DOJ to comment on the senator’s plea. | @kristinepatag pic.twitter.com/PNq6iS3lSi
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) March 19, 2019
The court has also directed Makati RTC Br. 150 Judge Elmo Alameda to comment on Trillanes' petition.
The rebellion case is over Trillanes' participation in the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, for which amnesty was granted in 2011. President Rodrigo Duterte has voided the amnesty.
The Department of Justice has transmitted to the Office of the Solicitor General the order by Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 denying its motion for reconsideration on an earlier decision not to issue an arrest warrant for Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV over a coup d'etat case it dismissed in 2011.
The court has stood firm on its decision that Trillanes applied for amnesty and acknowledged guilt in mutinies against the Arroyo administration.
It also stood by the same decision that found that Proclamation 75, which voided Trillanes' amnesty, is legal and is within the president's powers to issue.
"We are transmitting the Joint Order for your office to consider the filing a petition for certiorari with the higher courts witin the time allowed by the Rules of court, " Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Fadullon, OIC prosecutor general, says in his letter.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo had initially said Solicitor General Jose Calida would go straight to the Court of Appeals and not wait for the Makati court to reconsider.
The Department of Justice will file a motion for partial consideration at Makati RTC Branch 148 by Friday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra tells reporters.
The motion will only ask the court to reconsider "only insofar as it found that sen trillanes had sufficiently shown that he filed his certificate of amnesty, and that therefore it follows that he also admitted his guilt."
The Palace had earlier said Solicitor General Jose Calida was already preparing a petition questioning the Makati court's resolution before the Court of Appeals.
Lawyer Rhodora Peralta, Makati RTC Br148 clerk of court, confirms that Judge Andres Soriano has issued a resolution on a Department Justice plea to issue a warrant of arrest against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
She says they will not give out copies until parties of the case receive the resolution first.
Makati RTC Br148 Clerk of Court lawyer Rhodora Peralta confirms that Judge Andres Soriano has issued resolution, but a copy has yet to be given to parties. She said they won’t give out copies until parties of the case receive the resolution. | via @kristinepatag pic.twitter.com/Sh4NYmz0CO
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) October 22, 2018
She refuses to give details on what the resolution says.
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