MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s revocation of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s amnesty is a cause for concern, according to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
The public are being made to believe that the executive branch can overturn already dismissed cases, IBP President Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo said in a statement Monday.
An amnesty is an exercise of sovereign power and the recipient of the amnesty stands before the law as though he had committed no offense, Fajardo explained.
“Chaos that may result from the endeavors to bring Senator Trillanes to face ‘justice’ ironically undermines our systems that make the orderly administration of justice possible,” he said.
Moreover, the national organization of lawyers “views with deep concern the position being peddled to the public that records of the executive branch can be used to overturn final dismissals of criminal charges by our courts.”
“Arresting and incarcerating Senator Trillanes for offenses dismissed by amnesty runs roughshod over the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy that no person shall be held to answer twice for the same criminal offense,” said Fajardo.
The IBP released the statement after Trillanes filed a petition against Proclamation 572, which declared his amnesty void, before the Supreme Court and the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 started considering the petition of the Department of Justice for the issuance of a hold departure order and an alias warrant against the senator.
PETITION AT SC
The Supreme Court, in an en banc session Tuesday, will tackle Trillanes’ petition for certiorari and challenge to the constitutionality of Proclamation 572.
Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, to whom Trillanes’ petition was raffled, can either decide on the prayer for a temporary restraining order or seek first comment from respondent Duterte.
In a news conference at the Senate Monday, Trillanes said he hopes the high court justices will decide on what is right.
“They may not like me personally, they may not be allied with me politically, pero ibang usapan na ito. Jurisprudence na ang naapektuhan dito,” he said. “Naniniwala ako na sila ang kikilos para ipagtanggol ang Constitution.”
‘BE INDEPENDENT’
Moreover, Fajardo called on the courts to resist collateral attacks on their judgments and maintain independence with regard to the case of Trillanes.
“An independent and impartial judiciary remains the most powerful bastion that protects our cherished constitutional rights against excesses of political power,” said Fajardo.
Meanwhile, another IBP official criticized Trillanes after the latter said in one of his news conferences that Duterte might have cheated his way, through his father, to pass the Bar exam.
Executive Vice President Domingo Cayosa said in a radio interview that it is impossible for Duterte to fake his passing of the Bar exam.
“Mula sa pag-apply hanggang sa pagkuha ng Bar exam ay mabusisi ang pinagdadaanang proseso kaya imposible iyong sinasabi niya na nilakad ang pagpasa ni President Duterte,” Cayosa said.
“Kung gusto ni Senator Trillanes, maaari naman niyang tignan sa websites ng IBP kung talaga nga bang nakapasa sa Bar exam si President Duterte,” he added./PN
