(Eagle News) – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he would “not resist arrest” and would be willing to be incarcerated again while he is exhausting all legal means to prove that the grant of amnesty to him by former President Benigno Aquino III was valid.
Speaking to reporters, Trillanes claimed the action of President Rodrigo Duterte to void his amnesty was a “case of political persecution.”
He insisted he had applied for amnesty and had completed the requirements for it.
“Hindi po totoo yan. Hindi po ako bibigyan ng amnesty kung wala akong application,” he said.
“Itong amnesty is an act of Congress. Hindi siya masusupercede ng executive order.”
Asked if he would allow himself to be re-arrested, Trillanes said: “Sasama ako at mag-i-impake.”
“Hindi ako magtatago definitely. I will not resist arrest. I will not escape. Haharapin ko ito,” he said.
Trillanes also said that he will follow whatever the Senate leadership will decide.
“I will abide by the wisdom of the senate leadership and my lawyers are exhausting all legal remedies,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has voided the amnesty granted to Trillanes, “effective immediately,” saying he had not complied with the “minimum requirements” for such an amnesty.
The President, through Proclamation No. 572, was dated Aug. 31, 2018 and was signed by the President and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Citing Section 19 Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution, Duterte said that “the grant of amnesty to former LTSG Antonio Trillanes IV under Proclamation No. 75 is declared void ab initio because he did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation.”
The presidential proclamation said that Trillanes had neither applied for amnesty and did not also express guilt for the crimes committed during the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines Stand-off and the November 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula incident which all happened during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Trillanes was facing trial for the non-bailable offense of coup d’etat in 2010 at the time that he was given amnesty by former President Aquino.
Because of the revocation of the amnesty grant to Trillanes, he can be re-arrested and directed by the justice department to stand trial for the crimes he had been initially charged with, according to the Presidential Proclamation 572.