(Eagle News)—-Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday, Sept. 9, maintained it was up to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to show proof that he indeed submitted a form to apply for amnesty for the Oakwood mutiny and Peninsula Manila siege in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
“Kung hindi mahanap iyong kopya ng (Department of National Defense), ang dapat diyan ipakita niya iyong kopya niya kasi lahat naman iyan kapag nag-file ka, may receive copy hindi ba?” he said.
He also urged Trillanes to stop his “banter.”
The “best evidence rule,” after all, he said, should apply.
“Kapag nakasulat po iyan, iyong kasulatan iyong ebidensiya,” he said.
Trillanes has showed a supposed letter from former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to then-President Benigno Aquino III as supposed proof the senator had applied for amnesty.
In the Jan. 25, 2011 “letter,” Gazmin said that “after careful review and deliberation,” the Committee found the applications for amnesty of several military officials, including Trillanes, and personnel “in order.”
“Hence on 20, 21 and 24 Januarty 2011, respectively, I have approved the recommendations of the DND Ad Hoc Amnesty Committee and thereby granted amnesty to aforesaid officers and enlisted personnel thru Committee Resolutions 1, 2, 3 and 4,” the supposed letter also said.
But Proclamation No. 572 declared void ab initio the amnesty granted to Trillanes, saying he failed to file an official form of application, and citing a certification from the military that said there was no available copy of such an application.
It also said Trillanes failed to make an express admission of guilt for the crimes committed.
Trillanes has filed a petition challenging the proclamation before the Supreme Court.
