MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Jose Calida ordered a person to dig into the amnesty records of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday.
In a televised press conference, Lorenzana said Calida sent someone “to research” on records of Trillanes and others granted with amnesty.
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Lorenzana said that he did not ask the purpose of Calida’s research. “Eh, solgen siya eh,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, on Saturday, said that he "cannot refuse" the findings of Calida. “Look, I am here to enforce the law. It was Calida who did all the research on Trillanes’ amnesty just like what he did to Sereno. You know, Calida is bright,” Duterte said.
“If the solicitor general said there’s a mistake and it has to be corrected, I cannot refuse,” the president added.
The Defense chief stressed that Trillanes was not singled out as documents of all those who applied and availed the amnesty were also reviewed.
Calida kept mum on his hand in the review of the amnesty records.
The proclamation was published on the same day that Trillanes conducted the legislative probe into alleged impropriety of Calida’s ownership of Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc.
The security agency has bagged multi-million contracts with government agencies.
In a separate interview, Trillanes told reporters last Monday that the probe into the alleged conflict of interest in Calida’s ownership of VISAI will continue.
‘Needs rectification’
Lorenzana said that in his personal view, those that Trillanes missed in the filing of amnesty grant could be rectified.
“If there was really some, processes that were not properly done, it should be rectified,” Lorenzana said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“That’s it. Rectification could suffice,” he added.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that Trillanes failed to comply with the requirements in amnesty: An official, personal filling out of the amnesty form and admission of guilt to the crime charged.
The senator has presented photos and documents that buttress his claim that he did file his amnesty. The Department of National Defense has documents to support his argument.
Meanwhile, Trillanes is facing legal battles over Procalamation 572.
He has already sought the Supreme Court for immediate relief on his case last week. A STAR report said that his petition is included on Tuesday’s agenda for the SC’s en banc session.
Calida has had a winning streak at the SC, only marking a "loss" when the SC denied his plea to turnover the government's voluminous records on drug war.
Meanwhile, two Makati courts are set to rule on state prosecutors’ motions for the issuance of an alias warrant against the senator this week. — Kristine Joy Patag