MANILA – The Court of Appeals rejected the petition of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the continuation of the trial for a revived rebellion case.
In a resolution released on Wednesday, the CA’s Ninth Division also ordered Makati City trial court Judge Elmo Alameda and the Makati City prosecutor’s office or the Department of Justice to comment on or oppose his petition within 10 days from notice
According to CA’s ruling, restraining Trillanes’ prosecution “would be to grant the principal prayer for certiorari, prohibition and/or injunction without the benefit of a hearing.”
The main relief Trillanes sought before the appellate court was the declaration as “null and void ab initio” of the orders of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 for his arrest.
Trillanes has been accused of rebellion over his involvement in the 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege during the time of former president and now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The same Makati City RTC branch junked the case in 2011 after Trillanes and other members of Magdalo group were granted amnesty by former President Benigno Aquino III.
However, the case was revived last year upon motion by the Department of Justice on orders by President Rodrigo Duterte, who proclaimed he had revoked the senator’s amnesty./PN
