(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, Sept. 11, maintained the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was void ab initio because it was signed by then-Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and not by then-President Benigno Aquino III.
In his tête-à-tête with Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, Duterte said the granting of pardon or amnesty was, after all, “an act of state.”
“It cannot be delegated to anybody but to the … president itself..Yung.. Constitution mismo exclusively grants him the power to pardon and (grant) amnesty,” Duterte said.
Panelo also said the Supreme Court, in several cases such as in Constantino vs Cuisa in 2005, acknowledged there are powers that cannot be relegated to a subordinate.
Apart from the grant of pardon or amnesty, Panelo cited as an example the declaration of martial law.
“The (allegation) against him by way of criminal complaint is a very serious one, rebellion. Had it succeeded, it would have overthrown the government,” Duterte said.
“An act of amnesty is always an act of state which cannot be done by a mere Cabinet member especially if the Cabinet member was also one of those who investigated and approved the recommendation (for amnesty),” Duterte added.
