Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Thursday challenged beleaguered Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV to appear and prove before the court his claim that he complied with all the requirements to be eligible for amnesty in 2011, in connection with his role in attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration.
Guevarra insisted that the issuance of an order by Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati City Branch 148 Presiding Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano compelling Trillanes to comment on the Department of Justice’s motion for the issuance of a hold departure order (HDO) and an alias warrant shows that the trial court still has jurisdiction over him, contrary to his claim that the cases against him have already been dismissed when he was given amnesty by former President Benigno S. Aquino III.
“The court has issued certain orders. The case has, in fact, been revived,” Guevarra said.
‘Recipes for instability’
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, meanwhile, warned that the Duterte administration may face dire consequences if Malacañang insists on foisting Palace Proclamation 572, revoking on a technicality the amnesty granted to Trillanes by the Aquino administration absolving the ex-Navy officer-turned-lawmaker of liability for leading the failed military mutiny against the Arroyo administration.
Drilon, a former justice secretary, on Thursday said that revoking the amnesty and reopening of cases against Trillanes that were already dismissed by the courts are “recipes for instability.”
“Presidential Proclamation 572 cannot just invalidate an act performed altogether by the three branches of government,” the lawmaker said.
Go to SC
Guevarra added: “The RTC has set a hearing on September 13. He [Trillanes] should tell that to the court. He said he will go to the Supreme Court, he [should] tell that to the SC,” Guevarra said in reaction to Trillanes’s claim that he no longer has pending cases in connection with his participation in the July 27, 2003, Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines standoff and the November 29, 2007, Manila Peninsula takeover, which were all aimed at pressuring then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down.
The department said the coup d’etat case against Trillanes was scheduled for promulgation in 2011 but was canceled after he was given an amnesty.
Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon also pointed out that dismissal of the case by former Presiding Judge Ma. Rita Bascos Sarabia can no longer be given weight in view of President Duterte’s Proclamation 572, where he declared that the senator’s amnesty is considered void from the start due to his failure to comply with the requirements to make eligible for such.
“Yes, it was dismissed by Judge Sarabia on the premise that he applied for amnesty. But the grant of amnesty as far as Trillanes is concerned has been declared void ab initio [void from the start],” Fadullon said.
“This being the case, the decision as far as it dismissed the case against him, has no leg to stand on,” he added.
Fadullon pointed out that the Department of Justice seeking Trillanes’s arrest is in line with the President’s directive under Proclamation 572.
“In the meantime, we sought his arrest to comply with the directive in Proclamation 572 and to prevent confusion on the matter of his being arrested by our peace officers,“ he explained.
Proclamation 572 specifically revoked the Department of National Defense Ad Hoc Committee Resolution 2 issued on January 31, 2011, insofar as it granted amnesty to Trillanes in line with Aquino’s Proclamation 75.
TRO vs AFP and PNP
This developed as Trillanes, a known critic of the President, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police from arresting him as directed under Proclamation 572.
In a 36-page petition for prohibition and certiorari, Trillanes also asked the SC to declare as null and void the said proclamation for being unconstitutional.
Named respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, Guevarra, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. and PNP chief Director Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde.
The senator argued that the proclamation violates the constitutional grant of “shared power” between the Executive and Legislative branches in issuance and withdrawal of amnesty grant.
“The power to grant amnesty is not just the sole prerogative of the Executive. Under the Constitution, this power, to be validly exercised, requires concurrence of both Houses of Congress,” he explained, citing Article VII, Section 19 of the Charter.
He said the issuance of the proclamation was part of the Duterte administration’s ploy to silence the opposition.
Trillanes claimed that Proclamation 572 violates his rights to due process since it “singled out and specifically targeted” him.
Trillanes also alleged that the assailed proclamation violated the rule on double jeopardy since the cases against him have already been dismissed by the Makati City regional trial courts. The senator claimed that his cases before RTC in Makati RTC Branches 148 and 150 were “both dismissed on the basis of the amnesty granted to petitioner.”
The senator further argued that the order violated the provisions against warrantless arrest and the exclusive authority of the courts to order arrest of individuals.
“The attempt of President Duterte and/or the respondents to order and/or cause the arrest of petitioner on the basis of a mere proclamation, without a valid warrant of arrest and without any lawful cause or any pending case against him which would justify his arrest likewise clearly violates Article III, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution,” read the petition.
Trillanes submitted to the SC documents that he said would prove that he met the requirements of his amnesty, particularly submission of formal application and express admission of guilt on crimes charges. He, however, did not submit the actual application form that was reportedly “missing” in the records of the AFP.
Trillanes filed the petition before the SC through his lawyer Reynaldo Robles.
In an interview with reporters, Robles expressed belief that the justices would rule on the matter with impartiality despite that they are being perceived as allies of Duterte.
“But I don’t believe in that. I believe that the justices of the Supreme Court and the judges in the trial court would act if they see this abuse and assault on our Constitution and defend our rights,” he said.
Image credits: AP