Palace mocks Trillanes camp for challenging amnesty revocation before SC
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang Thursday mocked the camp of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for challenging the voiding of his amnesty before the Supreme Court, saying the petition is "useless" because the high court is not a trier of facts.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, a former law professor, said the SC did not issue a temporary restraining order on the proclamation voiding the amnesty because issues of facts are resolved by lower courts.
"The petition filed by Senator Trillanes is useless... Because the court allowed the RTC (Regional Trial Court) to resolve factual issues. If you have any experience in constitutional litigation, you do not allege issues of facts before the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court is never a trier of facts; it should have been the lower courts or the Court of Appeals," Roque said in a press briefing.
Roque claimed the lawyers of Trillanes would have known the process if they were his students.
"I am not surprised because they were not my students. If they were my students, they would have known where to file these things," Roque said.
"I don’t think they were graduates of the same law school where I taught," he added.
Trillanes was charged with coup d'etat and rebellion before two Makati courts over the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. The cases were dismissed in 2011 after former President Benigno Aquino III issued Proclamation No. 75 granting amnesty to rebel soldiers who joined anti-Arroyo uprisings.
Late last month, Duterte issued Proclamation No. 572 invalidating the amnesty given to Trillanes, a move that might revive the charges against the opposition senator.
The proclamation said Trillanes did not file an official amnesty application and did not express guilt for his "crimes." Officials, later on,r on argued that the amnesty given to Trillanes was void because it was signed by then defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin and not Aquino.
Trillanes has insisted that the amnesty granted to him was valied and claimed that the voiding of his amnesty was meant to silence the critics of Duterte.
Critics are concerned that the proclamation would put into question the validity of the amnesty given to other former soldiers who joined ouster plots against previous presidents, some of whom are now occupying key government posts.
Roque, however, insisted that all other amnesties given by previous presidents are valid unless challenged before the courts.
"Under the law, even if his act is null and void, unless it’s actually questioned then it entitles to be—entitled to respect," the presidential spokesman said.
"Sorry na lang si Senator Trillanes, pinag-aralan siya ni SolGen Calida at lumalabas na depektibo talaga iyong kaniyang amnesty. Anong resulta? Well, iyong sa kaniya lang ang maaapektuhan dahil iyon lang naman ngayon ang actual review ng regional trial court sa Makati (Unfortunately fopr Sen. Trillanes, his amnesty was studied by Solicitor General Jose Calida and it appears that his amnesty was really defective. The result? His amnesty is the only one affected because it is the only one subjected to actual review by the regional trial court of Makati)," he added.
Roque, a former counsel of some rebel soldiers who joined anti-government uprisings, admitted that he once considered Trillanes as a friend but they parted ways when the senator allied himself with Aquino. He said Trillanes, whom he once described as a "hero," now belongs to the "dark side."
"We parted ways when he turned yellow because I was never really a supporter of the yellow. We also parted ways because he engaged in a witch hunt against (former Vice President Jejomar) Jojo Binay and now we are completely irreconcilable now that I’m with President Duterte," he said.
"I can only assure him, I know many people who are dark-skinned. Unfortunately, Jojo Binay is dark-skinned. President Duterte is dark-skinned. But I only know one person from the dark side–that's him, Senator Antonio Trillanes."
- Latest
- Trending
