Guevarra: Next step in Trillanes amnesty case up to DOJ, not Calida
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra clarified Tuesday that the Department of Justice—not the Office of the Solicitor General—will determine the next step in the amnesty issues of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Earlier Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced in a briefing on Tuesday that Solicitor General Jose Calida will bring Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148's resolution not to issue an arrest order against Trillanes to the Court of Appeals.
Makati RTC Branch 148 on Monday threw out the government’s plea for warrant against senator. It however held that it did not find Proclamation 572, which voided Trillanes’ amnesty, unconstitutional.
Panelo told reporters that he talked to Calida, who told him “he will not file [a motion for reconsideration] but go immediately to the [Court of Appeals] and appeal immediately the ruling of the court.”
He added that the OSG is already preparing the petition to be filed.
Panelo: Sol Gen to appeal Makati RTC decision on Trillanes case before CA | @alexisbromero
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) October 23, 2018
Guevarra, asked if this means that the DOJ will not file an appeal before the local court, stressed: “It is the DOJ who will decide what legal step to take.”
Parties are allowed to file an appeal or motion for reconsideration before a court within 15 days.
Guevarra said that the DOJ will know which legal step to take "before the end of the day (October 23)."
RELATED: Palace defers to DOJ, SolGen on Trillanes case
Roles of the DOJ, Solicitor General
State prosecutors represented the government in motions in local courts seeking warrants and hold departure orders against Trillanes.
Calida, meanwhile, represents the government in Trillanes’ petition questioning the presidential proclamation that voided amnesty granted to him in 2011. That petition remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Government officials, including President Rodrigo Duterte, earlier pointed to Calida as the man behind the review of Trillanes’ amnesty papers.
Proclamation 572, which voided Trillanes’ amnesty, was released amid the Senate inquiry into Calida’s alleged impropriety in stock ownership of a security agency that bagged multimillion-peso contracts with several government agencies.
RELATED: 'I cannot refuse': Duterte confirms Calida triggered review of Trillanes amnesty
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