OPPOSITION Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV has failed to get an immediate relief from the Court of Appeals (CA) in connection with his plea to stop his trial for rebellion, a case that was recently revived by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Makati City.
In a three-page resolution, the CA’s Ninth Division held that to grant Trillanes’s petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO), or a writ of preliminary injunction would be tantamount to deciding on the merit of the petition which sought the reversal of the trial court’s order issued on September 25, 2018, which granted the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motion to reopen the rebellion case and to order his immediate arrest.
Trillanes filed a motion for reconsideration of the said ruling of the trial court but Makati RTC Branch 150 presiding Judge Elmo Alameda, who is handling the case, denied it.
Judge Alameda also set the resumption of Trillanes’s trial on March 20 with the presentation of prosecution witnesses.
This prompted the senator to elevate the case before the CA, branding the trial court’s decision as “whimsical and arbitrary act of ignoring established jurisprudence.”
However, the CA took note of the Supreme Court’s action on a similar petition filed by Trillanes where it denied the latter’s prayer for ancillary relief to prevent the enforcement of Proclamation 572 on the ground that the issue of whether the senator availed of Amnesty Proclamation 75 was for the trial courts to determine.
“Given the foregoing facts, the ancillary remedies applied for may not be granted at this time without running afoul with the principle that provisional reliefs may not be granted in advance of the main action where the provisional relief is the very remedy prayed for the complaint or petition,” the CA said in a resolution penned by Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr.
“We may not temporarily restrain or preliminarily enjoin the prosecution of the criminal action for rebellion at this stage because to do so would be to grant the principal prayer for certiorari, prohibition and/or injunction without the benefit of a hearing,” it added.
Instead, the appellate court gave the DOJ 10 days to comment on Trillanes petition.
It can be recalled that the rebellion case has been dismissed by the Makati Court on September 7, 2011, after then-President Benigno Aquino III granted Trillanes amnesty.
However, the amnesty was revoked by virtue of Proclamation 572 issued by President Duterte’s Proclamation 572 on the ground that the senator failed to comply with the requirements to qualify for an amnesty.
Specifically, the justice department claimed that Trillanes failed to file an application form with an admission of his guilt.
Meanwhile, the Makati RTC has rescheduled the resumption of trial to May 27.
The rebellion case stemmed from Trillanes involvement in the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007 that as aimed at toppling the Arroyo administration.
Image credits: AP