Robredo: Trust in courts lost over arrest order vs Trillanes

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday slammed the Makati court’s order to arrest opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

The vice president said in a statement that people trust the courts to be “strong and fair, especially in the fight for our rights.”

“This trust was lost due to the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150’s order to arrest Trillanes, despite clear evidence presented,” Robredo said.

“If laws can be broken against a senator, what more can be done against our poor countrymen?” she added in Filipino.

Robredo said President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572, that voided Trillanes’ amnesty, “mirrors the weakness of this administration—scared of its own shadow, cannot accept criticism, even those that will improve the country.”

On Tuesday, Trillanes went to the Makati RTC Branch 150 to post a bail of P200,000. Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda, in his order, stressed that Trillanes failed to present the primary evidence in the case which is the amnesty application form bearing a receiving stamp.

He said that the pieces of evidence Trillanes had presented—such as video and photograph of him holding the application form, Col. Josefa Berbigal’s affidavit saying that she received Trillanes’ form and others—must be “disregarded” and are “barren of probative weight.”

Former Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada, meanwhile, said that Trillanes’ case is “our first case of political necrophilia.”

Tañada is also the Liberal Party vice president for external affairs.

Tañada stressed that the case has long been dead due to the amnesty.

“It is obvious that singling out Trillanes is just the latest in a series of thinly-veiled attempts by the administration to silence all opposition by any means necessary,” he added.

Calida: Time for trial

Solicitor General Jose Calida, who was behind the review of Trillanes’ papers, meanwhile hailed the RTC ruling.

“Mr. Trillanes should be made accountable for his crimes against the Repubic. Time for trial...” Calida added.

The DOJ on Wednesday also filed its reply on Trillanes' supplemental comment before the Makati RTC Branch 148. This wraps up the proceedings on the DOJ's motion for a warrant against Trillanes.

Trillanes said on Tuesday that while he is hoping for a “miracle” from Branch 148, he is also bracing for the worst. — Kristine Joy Patag