Roque: Resignation from Navy does not undo Trillanes' violations
MANILA, Philippines — A court martial can still try Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for violations of the Articles of War while in military service, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.
President Rodrigo Duterte in a proclamation signed on August 31, voided the amnesty granted to the senator because he supposedly failed to comply with minimum requirements of the grant.
Trillanes has disputed the assertion, has presented documents that indicate that he applied for amnesty and signed a general admission of guilt, the requirements for amnesty.
Stressing that Proclamation 572 declared the amnesty given to Trillanes void ab initio, or invalid from the very beginning, Roque said the senator's current status would be his status before amnesty was granted to him in 2011.
"As to the fact that Senator Trillanes resigned from military service, the act of resignation does not undo the violations of the Articles of War that he committed while he was in military service," Roque said in a statement.
An Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman has said Trillanes would be considered back in active service.
Roque: Trillanes charged in civilian, military courts
The Malacañang spokesman noted that the senator was charged for offenses tried before civilian courts and service-related offenses of the Articles of War.
Trillanes had been charged of rebellion for leading coup attempts against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003 and 2007.
According to Roque, the court martial has continuing jurisdiction over the senator's violations of the articles of war.
"Violations of the Articles of War cannot be tried by civilian courts," Roque, who used to praise Trillanes and the Magdalo group before joining government, said.
Trillanes, on the other hand, claimed that all cases against him in civilian courts have been dismissed.
ON INTERAKSYON: 10 years ago, Harry Roque called Trillanes a ‘hero’ against an ‘evil regime’
Trillanes given amnesty 'in a silver platter'
Echoing Duterte's reasoning for nullifying the amnesty of Trillanes, Roque also said the senator did not ask for the grant but it was given to him "in a silver platter by the previous administration."
"So when you did not ask for amnesty, you are not entitled to it. When you did not admit to your guilt — which is a pre-condition for amnesty — then you are not entitled to amnesty," Roque said.
Roque's current pronouncements against Trillanes contradict his own statement back in 2010.
Excerpts of Roque's essay eight years ago where he praised Trillanes for "standing up against evil in government" have resurfaced on social media.
"Whenever I feel tired of standing up against evil in government and have the occasional urge to retire into the stereotype of an upwardly mobile lawyer, I think of Sonny Trillanes and the many years that he spent behind bars fighting a regime and a system that is rotten and evil to the core," the essay read.
Trillanes, meanwhile, has filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to challenge the constitutionality of Duterte's Proclamation 572.
The senator was able to produce documents from the Department of National Defense to prove that he filed for an amnesty.
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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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