(Eagle News) — Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will remain holed up in the Senate so far.
According to Trillanes, this was after his lawyers advised him to wait for the courts’ “final resolution” on Proclamation 572 that declared the amnesty granted to him for the Oakwood mutiny and the Peninsula Manila siege in 2003 and 2007, respectively, void ab initio.
Trillanes has questioned the proclamation before the Supreme Court, which, however, junked his request for a temporary restraining order, and noted that the case involved facts.
It noted the regional trial courts were “trier of facts,” apart from the Court of Appeals.
The Department of Justice has filed motions seeking for an alias warrant and a hold departure order against Trillanes before Branches 148 and 150 of the Makati Regional Trial Court.
Trillanes was charged with rebellion and coup d’etat in those courts in connection with the incidents in 2003 and 2007.
The DOJ believes Trillanes continues to face those cases, following the issuance of Proclamation 572.
The DOJ noted the dismissal of those cases, after all, was merely “anchored” on the amnesty.
Trillanes has argued that those cases against him have have already been dismissed.
“So yun matutuldukan na yun. There won’t be any ambiguity anymore,” he said.
Trillanes on Thursday, Sept. 13, said he would leave the Senate building “quietly,” but changed his mind after, according to him, several motorcycle-riding men tailed his vehicle that had gone out of the Upper House only to refuel.
Trillanes also noted what he said was the augmentation of forces in the Senate after he announced to the media that he would be leaving the building.
President Rodrigo Duterte has said, however, that no one was “interested” in arresting Trillanes, reiterating his earlier pronouncement that the government would wait for an arrest warrant issued by civilian courts.
The DOJ also said that Trillanes has the “propensity” to “hole up” in an enclosed building “while evading the processes of the law, an apparent reference also to the Oakwood mutiny and the Peninsula Manila siege.
