(Eagle News) — Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday, Sept. 13, said he would try to leave the Senate building “quietly.”
“Susubukan ko mamayang lumabas. We will do it quietly para we’ll see,” Trillanes said.
Trillanes had been sleeping overnight in the Upper House since news of the issuance of Proclamation No. 572 broke last week.
The proclamation, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, declared the amnesty granted to Trillanes for the Oakwood mutiny and Peninsula Manila siege in 2003 and 2007, respectively, void ab initio, citing the senator’s alleged failure to file an official application for the same in the first place, and a certification from the military that said there was no available copy of the same in their office.
The proclamation also noted Trillanes’ alleged failure to make an express admission of guilt.
Trillanes has denied these allegations.
Trillanes’ remark he would leave “quietly” came with the pronouncement of Department of Justice prosecutors the senator had the tendency to “hole up” in establishments “while evading processes of law,” an apparent reference to the incidents in 2003 and 2007.
During the Oakwood mutiny, Trillanes and several other military personnel took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati in a bid to allegedly expose the corruption of the administration of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Trillanes and several military personnel also seized the Rizal function room on the second floor of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in a bid to “remove” Arroyo from her post years later.
The prosecutors issued the statement during a hearing at the Makati Regional Trial Court branch 148, where they filed a motion seeking for an issuance of an alias order and hold departure order against Trillanes.
A similar motion is pending before branch 150.
The DOJ’s contention is that Trillanes, who was charged with rebellion and coup d’etat in those courts, continues to face those cases following the issuance of the proclamation.
The DOJ said the earlier dismissal of the cases, after all, was “anchored” on the amnesty.
Trillanes has maintained the cases have already been dismissed.
