MANILA, Philippines — A court martial can still try Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for violations of the Articles of War while in military service, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.
President Rodrigo Duterte in a proclamation signed on August 31, voided the amnesty granted to the senator because he supposedly failed to comply with minimum requirements of the grant.
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Trillanes has disputed the assertion, has presented documents that indicate that he applied for amnesty and signed a general admission of guilt, the requirements for amnesty.
Stressing that Proclamation 572 declared the amnesty given to Trillanes void ab initio, or invalid from the very beginning, Roque said the senator's current status would be his status before amnesty was granted to him in 2011.
"As to the fact that Senator Trillanes resigned from military service, the act of resignation does not undo the violations of the Articles of War that he committed while he was in military service," Roque said in a statement.
An Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman has said Trillanes would be considered back in active service.
Roque: Trillanes charged in civilian, military courts
The Malacañang spokesman noted that the senator was charged for offenses tried before civilian courts and service-related offenses of the Articles of War.
Trillanes had been charged of rebellion for leading coup attempts against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003 and 2007.
According to Roque, the court martial has continuing jurisdiction over the senator's violations of the articles of war.
"Violations of the Articles of War cannot be tried by civilian courts," Roque, who used to praise Trillanes and the Magdalo group before joining government, said.
Trillanes, on the other hand, claimed that all cases against him in civilian courts have been dismissed.
ON INTERAKSYON: 10 years ago, Harry Roque called Trillanes a ‘hero’ against an ‘evil regime’
Trillanes given amnesty 'in a silver platter'
Echoing Duterte's reasoning for nullifying the amnesty of Trillanes, Roque also said the senator did not ask for the grant but it was given to him "in a silver platter by the previous administration."
"So when you did not ask for amnesty, you are not entitled to it. When you did not admit to your guilt — which is a pre-condition for amnesty — then you are not entitled to amnesty," Roque said.
Roque's current pronouncements against Trillanes contradict his own statement back in 2010.
Excerpts of Roque's essay eight years ago where he praised Trillanes for "standing up against evil in government" have resurfaced on social media.
"Whenever I feel tired of standing up against evil in government and have the occasional urge to retire into the stereotype of an upwardly mobile lawyer, I think of Sonny Trillanes and the many years that he spent behind bars fighting a regime and a system that is rotten and evil to the core," the essay read.
Trillanes, meanwhile, has filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to challenge the constitutionality of Duterte's Proclamation 572.
The senator was able to produce documents from the Department of National Defense to prove that he filed for an amnesty.
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