(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, Sept. 8, said former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin committed usurpation of authority when he approved amnesty for now-Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
According to Duterte, this was because Gazmin was also the one who conducted an investigation and recommended that a general amnesty be given in the first place.
“Siya mismo ang nag-grant. Siya ang nag-recommend, eh bakit ka pa mag- recommend? Kung ikaw lang pala ang pipirma eh ‘di diretso ka na,” Duterte said.
According to Duterte, he would not have signed Proclamation No. 572 if he did not believe there was no basis for declaring the amnesty granted to Trillanes for the Oakwood Mutiny and Manila Peninsula siege void ab initio.
The proclamation had cited as bases for the declaration Trillanes’ alleged failure to file an official form of application and a certification from the military that said there was no available copy of such application.
The proclamation also noted that Trillanes did not make an express admission of the crimes committed.
“It must be in affidavit form and you narrate kung anong kasalanan mo,” Duterte said, shrugging off Trillanes remarks he had made an express admission of guilt.
Trillanes had said he did this when he wrote the following in an application form for amnesty: “I hereby acknowledge that my involvement/participation in the subject incident/s constituted a violation of the 1987 Constitution, criminal laws and the Articles of War.”
“Yan, failure to comply,” Duterte maintained.
