(Eagle News) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) will file a motion for reconsideration before the Makati regional trial court as it sought a partial reversal of Judge Andres Soriano’s decision that junked an earlier government motion for an arrest warrant against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the “motion for partial reconsideration” of the order of Makati regional trial court branch 148 will be filed “not later than Friday,” Oct 26.
In a statement, Guevarra said that the DOJ will file the motion for reconsideration to question the Makati court’s ruling “only insofar as it found that Senator Trillanes had sufficiently shown that he filed his certificate of amnesty.”
He had already directed acting Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon to prepare the motion and inform the Office of the Solicitor General about the DOJ’s move.
“We are considering this time to exchaust all remedies at the regional trial court,” Fadullon said.
He said that the DOJ is maintaining its position that the decision of the Makati court dismissing the coup d’etat case against Trillanes in September 2011 “cannot attain finality” as it was “based on a void premise.”
He said that Judge Soriano’s ruling dismissing the DOJ’s motion for an arrest warrant against Trillanes was based on the premise that the opposition senator had complied with all the requirements for a grant of amnesty.
“We believe that documents are the primary evidence,” he said in an interview with GMA’s News to Go.
Fadullon said that the testimonial evidence being offered by Trillanes was just “secondary evidence,” as witnesses can testify that he
had filed but they cannot testify if he had indeed followed the proper procedure.
“If he (Trillanes) has filed (for amnesty application), he still has to prove that he has complied with the requirements,” he said.
In the absence of the documentation on the actual application by Trillanes for amnesty, and of his affidavit expressing guilt for his crime, Fadullon said that the amnesty grant on the senator could be questioned and voided by the government.
“The State cannot be estopped from questioning an error that was committed,” he stressed.
“If the judgment is based on a void premise. Then that portion of the judgment should also be void and therefore cannot attain finality,” he said.
The DOJ’s decision to file a motion for reconsideration before the Makati court, differed from the earlier statement by Solicitor General Jose Calida that he planned to go straight to the Court of Appeals to question Judge Soriano’s Oct. 22 resolution.
It was Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo who announced on Tuesday to reporters about Calida’s plan to question the Makati court’s ruling before the CA.
“He (Calida) will not file a motion for reconsideration, but go immediately to the Court of Appeals and appeal the ruling of the court with respect to non-issuance of warrant of arrest,” Panelo told reporters in Palace media briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
“So there are questions that can be properly raised to the Court of Appeals, and subsequently to the Supreme Court. Our theory from the very start is that the President can void an amnesty granted to anyone and that was upheld by the (Makati) court,” Panelo said.
The Makati RTC branch 148 in the resolution written by Judge Soriano upheld the validity of President Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572 that voided ab initio (from the beginning) the amnesty grant on Trillanes, but dismissed the DOJ’s motion to issue an arrest warrant and hold departure order against the senator, claiming the 2011 decision dismissing the coup d’etat case against the former Magdalo soldier had already become “final and executory.”
(Eagle News Service)
