MANILA – Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV got his second legal victory as another court deferred issuing an arrest warrant and a hold departure order against him.
Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150 only gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) five days to submit a formal comment on the opposition to the petition for arrest warrant and hold departure order filed by Trillanes’ camp.
Trillanes, through his legal counsel Atty. Reynaldo Robles, was also given five days by Alameda to submit a rejoinder to the reply if needed.
The embattled senator’s camp insisted in its comment on the opposition that the cases against Trillanes have been dismissed seven years ago and can no longer be reopened by a proclamation from President Rodrigo Duterte or motion by the DOJ.
DOJ, through prosecutor general Richard Fadullon, has told the court that with President Duterte’s Proclamation 572 to void Trillanes’ amnesty, the latter “will revert back to the situation prior to the dismissal.”
“Because (former President Benigno Aquino III) amnesty grant under Proclamation 75 has been superseded by President Duterte;s issuance, the lower court’s dismissal becomes void,” Fadullon said.
On Thursday, Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano has given Trillanes and DOJ more days to submit additional pleadings to bolster their respective arguments.
RTC Branch 148 handled the coup d’etat case against Trillanes for his group’s takeover of Oakwood Premier Hotel in 2003, while Branch 150 handled his rebellion case for taking over the Manila Peninsula in 2007.
Duterte signed Proclamation No. 572 on Aug. 31 revoking the amnesty granted Trillanes and saying the senator did not comply with the “minimum requirements to qualify under the amnesty proclamation.”
The President also ordered the arrest of Trillanes “so that he can be recommitted to the detention facility where he had been incarcerated for him to stand trial for crimes he is charged with.”
Following the issuance of the proclamation, the DOJ have went to Makati City RTC Branch 148 to issue a hold departure order and arrest warrant against Trillanes but the court refused to so far./PN
