Former Army captain in Oakwood mutiny doubts rearrest

MANILA, Philippines — Customs official and former Army captain Alvin Ebreo doubts that his amnesty will be revoked because he has complied with all the requirements. 

Ebreo, who was arrested along with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, was granted pardon by former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Former president Benigno Aquino III also granted him amnesty.

He was pardoned on May 12, 2008 and given amnesty on Nov. 24, 2010.

Ebreo has left military service. He is now a lawyer and the head of the Bureau of Customs’ Collection Service Department. Former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon invited Ebreo to join the bureau.

“I am not afraid that I would be arrested. I went through all the process and application and submitted all the necessary documents. I applied for amnesty because I wanted to clear my records. I wanted a clean slate,” Ebreo said. 

Meanwhile, party-list group Magdalo has accused President Duterte of lying on the Trillanes amnesty case.

“Contrary to the lies about the reasons for the revocation of the amnesty granted to Senator Trillanes, there was an application filed at the Department of National Defense (DND) and there was an admission of guilt,” the group said in a statement.

It said a video taken in 2011 at the DND shows Trillanes’ amnesty application.

It quoted the senator as saying in the video: “We are man enough to admit that we committed mistakes... We faced the consequences... It was easy for us to do that.” 

“Members of Magdalo who were present at that time could attest to this. What President Duterte is doing right now is nothing but a cowardly act. (He) wants the intoxicating feeling of people fearing him. No presidential proclamation can nullify an amnesty that has an effect of an existing law as concurred in by Congress,” Magdalo said.

“Instead of signing a highly questionable and unlawful presidential proclamation in the hopes of sowing fear, why not sign a bank secrecy waiver and earn the respect of every Filipino? If the President wants it so bad to send Senator Trillanes to jail, Duterte could easily sign a waiver to show that he does not have two billion worth of bank transactions in his BPI Julia Vargas account and prove that Senator Trillanes is wrong,” it said. – With Jess Diaz