MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 3:55 p.m.) — A Makati court has issued a warrant against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV—a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte—over a rebellion case following the president's issuance of Proclamation 572 voiding his amnesty.
Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda ordered Trillanes' arrest on Tuesday, granting the motion of the Department of Justice.
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“Bail for temporary liberty of the accused is fixed at P200,000,” the order from Judge Alameda read.
LOOK: Order of Makati RTC Branch 150 granting the Department of Justice's request for an arrest warrant and hold departure order against Sen. Trillanes. | via @kristinepatag pic.twitter.com/nfgaF7quqk
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 25, 2018
Court: Proclamation 572 has legal basis
“The Court on the basis of the motion, pleadings and hearing conducted upon directive of the Supreme Court finds factual and legal basis for the issuance of Proclamation 572 on August 31, 2018 by President Rodrigo Duterte,” the Court said.
Alameda noted that the Supreme Court ruled on September 11 that the issue on whether Trillanes filed for amnesty and whether he admitted guilt was for the local courts to determine.
Trillanes’ petition before the SC, however, remains pending. It has yet to rule on the challenged constitutionality of Proclamation 572.
Solicitor General Jose Calida—who also initiated the review of Trillanes’ amnesty records—filed on Monday the government’s answer or Comment on the senator’s petition for certiorari.
READ: Palace on Trillanes arrest order: No more drama by presscon
Affidavits, photos not enough to convince court
The judge also said that Trillanes “failed to convince the Court that he indeed complied with the minimum requirement” in applying for amnesty.
“Evidently, he failed to present the original hard copy, duplicate copy, or even a photocopy showing that he personally accomplished and filed with the DND Amnesty Committee his Official Amnesty Application Form duly acknowledged and stamp marked received by said office,” the court order read.
It said that the pieces of evidence Trillanes had presented—such as a photograph of him holding the application form, Col. Josefa Berbigal’s affidavit saying that she received Trillanes’ form, and others—must be “disregarded.”
READ: Trillanes camp: No indication senator did not apply for amnesty on AFP certificate
The Court said that the pieces of evidence are “barren of probative weight to prove compliance by Senator Trillanes of the minimum requirements set forth in the rules and procedures in the processing of amnesty application.”
It also noted that Trillanes’ statement, when he was interviewed by GMA News in 2011, “are in conflict and irreconcilable with his adamant position that he applied for amnesty and admitted his guilt.”
Trillanes was quoted in the said article as saying: “I would like to qualify that we did not admit to the charge of ‘coup d’etat’ or anything na finile sa amin because we believe hindi iyon ang nararapat na charge sa ginawa sa amin.”
“Trillanes also failed to comply with additional requirement under DND AC Circular No. 1 for him to recant all previous statements inconsistenyt with the requirement of admission of that guilt,” the order read.
DOJ motion
Following the publication of Proclamation 572, the Department of Justice sought an alias warrant and travel ban against Trillanes from two Makati courts that handled cases involving Magdalo group mutinees in 2003 and 2007.
In their four-page “Very Urgent Ex-Parte Omnibus Motion for the Issuance of a Hold Departure Order and Warrant of Arrest" filed before Makati RTC Branch 150, the prosecutors pointed out that Trillanes posted bail on the rebellion case on July 15, 2010.
Four months later, President Benigno Aquino III granted amnesty to active and former personnel of the AFP, PNP and their supporters over the Oakwood mutiny, Marines standoff and the Manila Peninsula incident.
They noted that the court, on Sept. 7, 2011, granted Trillanes’ “Motion to Dismiss” pursuant to the grant of amnesty. The government argues that the amnesty was declared void and that trial should continue.
“It is clear that this instant case is still pending with this Honorable Court, as the prosecution has yet to present its evidence in chief insofar as accused Trillanes is concerned,” they said.
Trillanes to post bail
Trillanes has been staying at the Senate since the publication of Proclamation 572.
When news on the warrant broke, Trillanes was presiding over a hearing of the Senate committee on Social Justice, where he is vice chairman.
Trillanes later faced the press and said that he would go with the arresting officers and post bail.
The National Capital Region Police Office took custidy of him at the Senate and brought him to the Makati Police Station for booking.
LOOK: Sen. Trillanes voluntarily surrenders to NCRPO chief Guillermo Eleazar after a Makati court grants the DOJ's arrest warrant request against the senator. | ???? by Mong Pintolo
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 25, 2018
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