Makati court resets trial for rebellion case, pending Trillanes' appeal
MANILA, Philippines — Makati Regional Trial Branch 150 will not set a hearing on presentation of evidence, pending the motion for reconsideration of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
The Department of Justice was initially set to present evidence on the rebellion case against Trillanes over his involvement in the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. But Judge Elmo Alameda pointed out that the senator still has a pending appeal.
Trillanes has earlier asked the court to conduct a testimonial hearing to fully “flesh out” the arguments on whether Proclamation 572, which declared the amnesty granted to the senator as void from the beginning, has factual basis
In open court, Alameda said the Court “is constrained to reset the schedule presentation today of prosecution evidence.”
The judge added that the Court would not be putting on calendar a date for the next hearing on the rebellion case until the appeal was ruled upon so that “the court will not be accused of bias.”
Alameda, on September 25, granted DOJ’s plea for warrant and travel ban against the senator. The ruling essentially revived the rebellion case against the senator.
Retrieval of documents
However, both the prosecution and Trillanes' camp appeared to have difficulty in gathering transcripts that may prove relevant to the rebellion case.
Robles told reporters after the hearing that since the case has been dismissed in 2011, some of the records may have been archived already.
He said that it is a normal practice for government or law offices to put records in archives or even dispose such when a case has been inactive after three to five years.
“The court was asking if parties have complete transcript,” Robles said. He explained that even the prosecution is unsure whether they have the complete transcript related to the case.
The Court earlier dismissed the rebellion charge in 2011, pursuant to the amnesty granted to the senator.
Before the grant of the amnesty, the prosecution was supposed to present their evidence in the trial proper.
But Robles said that only a few volumes were recovered. He added that they would continue to retrieve the documents and check whether they could complete all records.
Echoing Alameda’s advice, the lawyer said they would “cross the bridge when they get there.”
"Kina-canvass pa lang namin, naka-archive sa storage, papatingnan pa lang kung mahahanap yung kabuuan ng records," Robles said.
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