MANILA -- The Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has set the hearing on the motion filed by Department of Justice for the issuance of an alias warrant of arrest and hold departure order (HDO) against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, after the amnesty given to him was invalidated by President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a one-page order, Makati RTC Branch 148 Presiding Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano has set the motion for hearing on Sept. 13 and also ordered accused Trillanes to file a comment within five days from receipt of the order.
“Accused Antonio Trillanes IV is given a period of five days from receipt of this order within which to file comment to the motion. Let the motion be set for hearing on September 13, 2018, at 9 in the morning,” read the order.
Soriano issued the order late Tuesday afternoon but was served to the parties concerned on Wednesday morning.
The four-page motion was filed by officer-in-charge (OIC) Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera and Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane Sytat following Duterte’s issuance of Proclamation No. 572, which revokes the Department of National Defense Ad Hoc Committee resolution insofar as the amnesty granted to Trillanes.
In seeking the issuance of an HDO and an alias warrant, the DOJ noted that the case of coup d'état against Trillanes has yet to be terminated by the court despite the issuance of Proclamation No. 75 issued by former President Benigno Aquino III which granted him amnesty.
The Makati RTC Branch 148 merely granted the motion of Trillanes to cancel the promulgation by reason of Proclamation No. 75, according to Navera.
“It is clear that this instant case is still pending with this Honorable Court and has yet to be terminated through a promulgation of judgment which was merely suspended last December 16, 2010,” the motion read.
“Accused Trillanes is an incumbent Senator of the Republic. He has the means and resources to flee to another country in order to escape Philippine criminal jurisdiction. It is therefore imperative that a hold departure order be issued directing the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to prevent him from leaving the Philippines during the pendency of this case,” the DOJ said.
Navera said once Trillanes is arrested, the DOJ would ask the court to set the date for the promulgation of the decision.
Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant senior grade, is facing charges, including coup d'état, for leading uprisings against the government in 2003 and 2007, during the administration of then President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
These include mutiny at the Oakwood Premiere Hotel in Makati on July 27, 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege on November 29, 2007.
The coup d'état case that was filed against the senator is a non-bailable offense and has a penalty of life imprisonment.
However, Trillanes can be taken into custody by the Senate but if the provision of Proclamation 572 will be followed, the senator should be detained at Camp Aguinaldo, where he was formerly held prior to the granting of amnesty.
Based on President Rodrigo Duterte's Proclamation No. 572, which was signed last Aug. 31, Trillanes has no pending application for amnesty granted to all active and former personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and supporters who joined the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines stand-off and the Nov. 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula incident.
This, in effect, voided the amnesty extended to him by former president Benigno S. Aquino III through Proclamation 75 issued in November 2010.
Free for now
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that police will have to wait for the issuance of a warrant by the court before they can arrest Trillanes.
He, however, said he is not privy to military proceedings.
"As to the rules of the court martial, I'm not in the military so I don't know their rules pertaining to arrests," he added.
Technically, Guevarra said Trillanes is still a free man because there is still no arrest warrant against him.
"The police will have to wait for the warrant," he added in a text message.
Members of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) are already seen at the vicinity of the Senate while waiting for orders regarding Trillanes' arrest.
But Guevarra clarified that he is only speaking based on the rules applying to civilians and regular courts.
Aside from criminal prosecution, the proclamation issued by Duterte also ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to proceed with the court martial case against the senator. (PNA)
