Senators back Trillanes' petition for temporary freedom via bail

Eighteen senators, led by Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., Tuesday filed Senate Resolution No. 22 expressing the sense of the Senate to support the petition for bail of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and for all concerned to allow him to sit in the Senate and perform his duties as senator of the land.

The authors of the resolution said Trillanes, who is under military detention for his role in the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny, was elected as senator in the last senatorial election by more than 11 million votes and therefore should be allowed to participate in the sessions and other functions of the Senate.

Co-authors of the resolution are Senators Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo Biazon, Jamby Madrigal, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manuel Roxas, Jinggoy Estrada, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Ramon Revilla, Jr., Lito Lapid, Gregorio Honasan, Pia Cayetano, Juan Ponce Enrile, Francis Pangilinan and Eduardo Angara.

Senate President Manny Villar has also signed up as co-author of the resolution.

"Sen. Trillanes, by his election, has indubitably opted to pursue his grievances against the government in a peaceful manner," they said.

They pointed out that the charges against the alleged leader of the Oakwood Mutiny, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, have been dropped by the Department of Justice.

The authors further reasoned out that the possibility of flight by Trillanes is remote, if not impossible, considering all circumstances.

"Moreover, adequate measures may be adopted - by the Senate and by the authorities of the armed forces under whose custody he has been placed - to ensure that Sen. Trillanes would stick to the performance of his duties as a senator if allowed to do so," they said.

According to the senators, the Senate as one of the three branches of government has the facilities and manpower to take Sen. Trillanes into its custody and guarantee that the latter would be present when needed by the court or any other proper authority at any given time.

"The message of the overwhelming mandate of the electorate in the last senatorial election is that the people want the then Captain Trillanes to represent them and sit and perform the duties of a senator of the land," the authors said.

They also cited a precedent case involving the late Senator Justiniano Montano of Cavite in the early 1950s who was placed in a similar predicament as Trillanes when the former was charged for multiple murders and was placed under arrest.

Although multiple murders, like coup d' etat for which Trillanes was charged, is non-bailable, the Supreme Court allowed Montano to post bail so that he could join the sessions of the Senate and perform his other duties as an elected senator of the land.

The authors of the resolution added that the Senate recognizes that the Regional Trial Court of Makati has primary jurisdiction over the person of Sen. Trillanes because the Oakwood mutiny case is pending therein.