Duterte proclamation ‘does not revoke’ Trillanes amnesty

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Proclamation 572 does not revoke the amnesty given to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV by former president Benigno Aquino III, the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 ruled on Monday.

“Proclamation 572 does not deprive Trillanes of a lawful protection from a previous proclamation of amnesty because (it) does not operate to revoke Proclamation 75 (given by Aquino),” read a part of the 33-page ruling issued by RTC Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano.

He stressed that “the wording of the Proclamation does not inflict punishment without judicial trial since the Department of Justice (DOJ) was precisely directed to pursue previous cases filed against Trillanes.”

Aquino in January 2011 granted amnesty to Trillanes and other soldiers who participated in the following uprisings: the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny for which Trillanes faced a coup d’etat case before the Makati RTC Branch 148; February 2006 Marine standoff; and November 2007 siege at The Peninsula Manila for which Trillanes is slapped with a rebellion case before the Makati RTC Branch 150. 

Eight months after Aquino issued Proclamation 75, then RTC Branch 148 presiding judge Oscar Pimentel and Makati City RTC executive judge Elmo Alameda separately dismissed the coup d’etat and rebellion cases against Trillanes.

However, seven years on, President Duterte issued Proclamation 572 to declare Trillanes’ amnesty as void “ab initio” (from the start) because of the latter’s supposed failure to comply with the minimum requirements for the amnesty program.

Trillanes “did not file an Official Amnesty Application” and “never expressed his guilt” for his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny and the Peninsula hotel siege, Duterte’s order alleged.

It also ordered the DOJ and the court-martial to “pursue all criminal and administrative cases filed against (then lieutenant senior-grade) Trillanes in relation to the Oakwood mutiny and the Manila Peninsula incident.”

‘Constitutional’

Soriano also ruled that Trillanes’ argument that Proclamation 572 violated the Constitution, particularly for issuing such an order without agreement with Congress, “is at least misplaced if not irrelevant.”

He pointed out that having control over the executive branch’s departments, Duterte has the right to order the Department of National Defense to look into the “allegedly erroneous inclusion of Trillanes as one of those qualified for amnesty despite his non-compliance with the basic requirements for the grant.”

“It is purely an executive act which does not need the concurrence of Congress,” Soriano ruled. “The said proclamation also did not direct law enforcement agencies, particularly the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), to arrest him without any warrant.”

Trillanes applied for a temporary restraining order against Proclamation 572 before the Supreme Court last September, with the high court junking it and declaring that the lower courts have the jurisdiction to hear and resolve pleadings by both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima welcomed with “guarded optimism” Soriano’s order, which she described as an act of independence and a breath of fresh air from the judiciary.

“I consider this development as a positive act of independence of the judiciary. We must recognize small victories against Duterte’s tyranny, and this is definitely one of them,” she said in a statement.

However, De Lima said the other part of Soriano’s order, upholding the power of the President to nullify a grant of amnesty and affirming the constitutionality of Proclamation 572, was a cause for concern.

“Any proposition supportive of the power of the President to unilaterally revoke an amnesty granted by a previous president would be dangerous. We must continue to be vigilant to ensure that the decision of the Makati RTC is not reversed on appeal. The efforts of Duterte and the DOJ to put Senator Trillanes behind bars do not end here. They will continue to move heaven and earth to get what Duterte wants, even if this means doubling their efforts to pressure the judiciary all the way up to the Supreme Court,” she added.  

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the decision “reinforces our belief that at the end of the day, the rule of law will prevail and no amount of underhanded legal maneuvering will be rewarded by an independent judiciary.” 

“The resolution of this case will definitely help restore the perception of stability in our courts,” he said.  – With Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla