The Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 yesterday junked the motion of the Department of Justice that sought to secure an arrest warrant and hold departure order against Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV over the coup d’etat charges in connection with the 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
“The prosecution’s very urgent ex-parte omnibus motion for the issuance of hold departure order and alias warrant of arrest against accused Antonio F. Trillanes IV is denied due course,” Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano said in a 33-page order.
Meanwhile, the court upheld the legality of Proclamation 572 and its bases issued by President Duterte which voided the amnesty given to Trillanes by the Aquino administration.
Soriano said records showed that the coup d’etat case against Trillanes has long been dismissed on Sept. 21, 2011 and final and executory and thus, immutable.
The court said it is a well-established doctrine which it finds itself “powerless to disturb” even as it sustained the factual bases for the issuance of Proclamation No. 572.
“Meanwhile, the law is vibrant. Jurisprudence is its lifeblood. Subsequent jurisprudence may forge new horizons in which exceptions to the immutability of a final and executory judgment may be torn,” he added.
The court also ruled that Trillanes indeed filed his amnesty application in the prescribed form in which he also admitted guilt for his participation in the Oakwood Mutiny.
Trillanes said he is certain that the Duterte administration will launch a more intense attack against him after he received a favorable ruling from the court.
“Iigting yan. Mas lalong iigting ang panggigipit nila. Lalo silang mangigigil pero lalo rin naman akong energized, so we’ll face them,” Trillanes said.
Trillanes admitted that though he was hopeful that he will get a favorable decision from the court, he mentally prepared himself for the worst. (Jel Santos and Hannah Torregoza)
