APD | Philippine court junks petition to arrest Senator Trillanes

By APD writer Melo M. Acuna

**MANILA, Oct. 22 (APD) ** - A Makati judge junked the request of the Department of Justice to subject Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to arrest for coup d’etat charges for the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, a case reported to have been dismissed seven years ago.

At the Department of Justice, media reports quoted acting Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon confirmed that the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 denied their motion to arrest Senator Trillanes.

Fadullon said the court upheld President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572 which revoked the amnesty earlier extended by the Aquino Administration in 2010.

The prosecutor general said he has yet to see the resolution as the information was just relayed to him.

Judge Andres Soriano’s ruling clashed with the order by Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150, who ordered Trillanes’ arrest for rebellion over the 2007 Manila Peninsula (Hotel) siege but allowed him to post bail late last month.

Judge Soriano released his decision about a month after the Department of Justice’s motion was submitted for resolution. The presiding judge initially deferred his decision and set the motion for hearing to receive the parties’ evidence last Friday, October 5.

It will be recalled the Department of Justice is pursuing criminal charges against Trillanes on orders of President Duterte who nullified the amnesty given by his predecessor, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III.

Described as unprecedented, the presidential order was founded on Trillanes’ alleged failure to apply for amnesty and to admit his guilt, two basic requirements for the grant of amnesty. He has denied the charges and showed proof against the executive department’s claims.

Senator Trillanes asked the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of President Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572.

The Supreme Court, however, denied Trillanes’ motion for temporary restraining order against the proclamation and referred the resolution of the factual issues of the case to the Makati courts.

Senator Trillanes has been one of President Duterte’s staunch critics over policy and executive decisions.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)