A MAKATI Regional Trial Court has rejected action filed by state prosecutors to issue a warrant of arrest and a hold-departure order for Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in connection with the coup d’etat case filed against him for his participation in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny in Makati.
Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano of Makati RTC Branch 148 said he saw “no reason to disturb the doctrine of immutability of a final and executory judgment.” The case against Trillanes, he said, was dismissed in 2011 after President Benigno S. Aquino III granted him amnesty.
The judge acknowledged that there was indeed a Proclamation 572 issued by President Duterte voiding the amnesty due to Trillanes’ alleged failure to apply for amnesty and admit his guilt. The court ruled, however, that Trillanes did file an application for amnesty and admitted his guilt in the mutiny, based on unrebutted evidence presented by the senator.
At the same time, Judge Soriano ruled that it was well within President Duterte’s power to issue Proclamation 572. “It is purely an executive act and prerogative in the exercise of the President’s power of control and supervision over offices and agencies of the executive department,” he said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra of the Department of Justice (DoJ) said the DoJ would appeal the decision to a higher court. The next higher court would be the Court of Appeals, but Senator Trillanes already has a pending petition with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of Proclamation 572.
The Court of Appeals could review the Makati court’s finding that Trillanes had indeed filed for amnesty and admitted his guilt, thus fulfilling the requirements of a presidential amnesty. But it is only the Supreme Court that can resolve the constitutionality of the Presidential Proclamation 572.
Quite apart from these legal and constitutional issues, the nation will be following this case for its political implications, Senator Trillanes being an unrelenting critic of many of President Duterte’s actions and decisions. He had also been persistent in criticizing previous officials, notably former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former Vice President Jejomar Binay.
These officials chose to face Trillanes in hearings and forums. It has only been President Duterte who chose to issue a presidential proclamation that seeks to put Senator Trillanes back in prison.
The political issues are bound to be decided by the people in elections. The Supreme Court will have to decide the legal and constitutional issues which the Makati court has raised to it.
