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Duterte Revokes Trillanes Amnesty; Court Orders His Arrest

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17 POLITICAL Duterte revokes Trillanes amnesty; court orders his arrest Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is facing his previously dismissed rebellion and coup d’état charges again after President Rodrigo Duterte revoked the amnesty granted to him in 2011. Beyond the arrest of the senator, the crisis could have far more reaching consequences to those who were previously granted amnesty. wo charges against Nacionalista Party Sen. Trillanes, a staunch critic of Pres. Duterte, have been revived in separate Regional Trial Courts (RTC) after the President Trevoked his amnesty through the issuance of Proclamation No. (PN) 572, s. 2018. The proclamation declares the amnesty granted to the senator void ab initio (void from the very beginning) after he allegedly failed to comply with the minimum prerequisites needed to qualify for amnesty – filing of an Official Amnesty Application Form and admission of guilt. In 2010, Former Pres. Benigno Aquino III, through PN 75, granted amnesty to officers and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and their supporters, in connection with the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, 2006 Marines Stand-Off, and the 2007 Manila Peninsula Incident. Based on the news the 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege. Sen. Trillanes temporarily reports during that period, Sen. Trillanes, a former Navy avoided jail after posting bail worth P200,000. Notably, Judge Lieutenant, filed his amnesty application on January 5, 2011. Alameda is the same judge who previously dismissed these Although PN 572 was released publicly through the Manila charges against the senator way back in 2011 in pursuant to Times on September 4 while the President was in the middle of Mr. Aquino’s amnesty proclamation. In reopening the case, his state visit in Israel and Jordan, the document has already Judge Alameda explained that Sen. Trillanes failed to convince been signed since August 31. Following the release of the the court that he complied with the minimum requirements proclamation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed separate for the amnesty as he was not able to present an original, motions in 2 RTCs to issue a warrant of arrest and hold departure duplicate or even a photocopy of the application form. order against Sen. Trillanes over rebellion and coup charges. Meanwhile, another court, Makati RTC Branch 148 Last September 25, the Makati RTC Branch 150 headed presided by Judge Andres Soriano deferred its decision to grant by Judge Elmo Alameda granted the motion of the DOJ, an arrest warrant and hold departure order on Sen. Trillanes. thereby reviving the senator’s rebellion case stemming from This is in connection with the coup d’état charges against Proclamation No. 572 declares the amnesty granted to Sen. Trillanes void ab initio after he allegedly failed to comply with the minimum prerequisites needed to qualify for amnesty. Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL September 2018 18 POLITICAL The Department of Justice filed separate motions in 2 RTCs to issue a warrant of arrest and hold departure order against Sen. Trillanes over rebellion and coup de ‘tat charges. The Makati RTC Branch 148 ordered the arrest of Sen. Trillanes but a bail was paid while the Makati RTC Branch 150 deferred the ruling and scheduled a hearing on October 5. the senator regarding his participation in the 2003 Oakwood on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, headed by Mutiny. A hearing is scheduled on October 5. Unlike rebellion Sen. Trillanes, to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the charges, however, coup d’état is a non-bailable offense. alleged conflict of interest of Sol. Gen. Calida2 Coincidentally, PN 572 was published on the first day of the scheduled Initially, PN 572 ordered law enforcement agencies to arrest congressional hearing on this issue. Sen. Trillanes. However, no arrest occurred as the senator stayed inside the Senate building to seek protection after Apart from this, the Senate minority also filed SR 887 to Senate President Vicente Sotto declared that no arrests will investigate the “fraudulent and erroneous” basis of PN 572. occur within the premises to preserve the chamber’s dignity. The senators described the proclamation as an abuse of presidential powers since it was issued despite photo and video His legal team then filed a petition to the Supreme Court evidence showing that Sen. Trillanes fulfilled the minimum (SC) to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against requirements for an amnesty grant. the enforcement of PN 572 to block any impending arrest. However, the SC denied their plea based on Pres. Duterte’s Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stood by their commitment that Sen. Trillanes will not be arrested without claims that Sen. Trillanes never filed for amnesty and that he a warrant issued by a trial court. Furthermore, the SC gave never admitted guilt, something that the Makati RTC Branch leeway to the RTCs to decide about the legality of PN 572. 150 seems to agree with. But in an apparent contradiction, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Sen. Trillanes attributed the revocation of his amnesty Lorenzana admitted that Sol. Gen. Calida called him to get to Solicitor General Jose Calida, who is currently under access to the supposed missing amnesty application of Sen. investigation over the P358 million worth of government Trillanes without any reasons before PN 572 was issued. A contracts that his family’s security firm, Vigilant Investigative staff of Sol. Gen Calida was then sent to look for the document. and Security Agency, Inc. (VISAI), won since 20161. Months before PN 572 was issued, the Senate minority group filed 2 The Senate minority group is composed of Sen. Trillanes, Liberal Party Senators Franklin Drilon, Senate Resolution (SR) 760 urging the Senate Committee Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Leila De Lima, and Akbayan Party Senator Risa Hontiveros. 1 According to Senate Resolution 760, Solicitor General Jose Calida still owns 60% of the VISAI as of September 2016, some 2 months after he assumed office. His wife and 3 children owned the remaining 40% of the shares at 10% each. Sen. Trillanes attributed the revocation of his amnesty to Solicitor General Jose Calida. Philippine ANALYST POLITICAL September 2018 POLITICAL 19 In an apparent contradiction, DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that Solicitor General Jose Calida called him to get access to the supposed missing amnesty application of Sen. Trillanes. Sen. Trillanes is the 2nd senator under the Duterte administration to be ordered arrested. As it stands, Sen. Trillanes is the second senator under Lastly, as former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay explained, the Duterte administration to be arrested. The first one was the government has also “placed on the line” the integrity of Liberal Party Sen. Leila De Lima who was incarcerated in the entire amnesty program and of the peace process since February 2017 over the alleged proliferation of drugs in the anyone who has received amnesty before could be put in New Bilibid Prison during her time as DOJ Secretary. Notably, the same predicament as the case of Sen. Trillanes. This the 2 senators are also the fiercest critics of Pres. Duterte also includes the rebel groups who will avail of the amnesty including his allies and policies such as the war on drugs. program as part of the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. Before being put to jail, Sen. De Lima, as then head of the Committee on Justice, led the Senate investigation on the alleged extra-judicial killings under the war on drugs campaign. September 2018 Approval and Trust Ratings of She was then stripped off the committee chairmanship and Top Gov’t Officials then scrutinized in a congressional hearing for the alleged charges against her. On the other hand, Sen. Trillanes initiated President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval and trust ratings several investigations on the alleged corrupt and drug-related sharply declined in September 2018. This is according to the activities of Pres. Duterte’s allies including his son and former latest results of Pulse Asia Research, Inc’s ‘Ulat ng Bayan’ Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. national survey about the performance and trust ratings of How this issue will play out for Sen. Trillanes now rests on top government officials and key government institutions in the decision of the RTCs, particularly of Branch 148 where the the country. non-bailable offense of coup d’état is being sought to revive. The survey showed that public approval rating of Pres. His term as senator is also about to end in mid-2019, as he is Duterte fell by 13 percentage points to 75% this September not eligible for re-election after maximizing 2 terms. from 88% last June, a personal record low since assuming the But beyond the arrest of the senator, the nullification of presidency in June 2016 (see table on Historical Approval and his amnesty could have far more reaching consequences to Trust Ratings of Duterte). His disapproval scores also rose by the public. The first one concerns data privacy of individuals. 7 points to 10%. Notably, the decrease in approval scores was Data Privacy Lawyer Cecilia Soria explained that under these reflected across all socio-economic classes and geographic circumstances where a document was accessed without location including in Mindanao, his bailiwick. lawful basis as Sec. Lorenzana disclosed, the DND might Among areas, the biggest decline was recorded in Luzon have “remiss in its duties to safeguard the personal data of at 17 points (resulting to 66%), followed by National Capital data subjects.” The same can happen with all the private Region (NCR) at 11 points (75%), Mindanao at 9 points (90%), documents of individuals who transact with the government. and Visayas at 6 points (83%). Double-digit decreases were also felt across classes led by Class D at 13 points (74%), then in Cl a s s ABC at 12 p o int s (72%), a n d Cl a s s E at 10 p o int s (81%).
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