Authorities to arrest Trillanes amid 'missing' amnesty application

MANILA, Philippines — As the Department of National Defense (DND) is trying to locate the missing amnesty application of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has declared its readiness to implement the directive to take the senator into custody.

DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong yesterday said they are still looking for the amnesty application of Trillanes, which he said is not available at the moment.

President Duterte signed Proclamation 572 revoking Trillanes’ amnesty grant and ordered the arrest of the opposition senator.

Andolong issued the statement at a press briefing yesterday in supporting Solicitor General Jose Calida in claiming Trillanes had failed to apply for amnesty.

The AFP, on the other hand, said Trillanes would be reverted to active duty as Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade to face court-martial proceedings.

AFP spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo said Trillanes was an active military officer when he was charged in his involvement in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and Peninsula hotel siege in 2007.

Arevalo said Trillanes will be facing a reconvened general court martial on orders of acting Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Salvador Melchor Mison.

Trillanes, a critic of the President, is facing charges for conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman and conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, among others.

Trillanes, who won a seat in the Senate while in detention in 2007, applied for amnesty in January 2011.

He took his oath of allegiance before then defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin after his amnesty application was approved by then president Benigno Aquino III.

Calida said he requested the AFP for Trillanes’ amnesty records last Aug. 30.

The Office of the AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, custodian of military records, could not provide the requested document.

Andolong, however, said efforts are being exerted by the office of the AFP Deputy of Staff for Personnel (J1) to locate the amnesty papers, as the document could also include those of his Magdalo colleagues.

“If he has the document then we are more than happy to see and validate the same,” Andolong said.

The AFP has dispatched a team of military police to take Trillanes into custody for court martial.

“That being the case, he will again be subject of military regulation, including the articles of war which every military personnel in the active service is supposed to be subject to,” Arevalo said.

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