EDITORIAL - Void from the start?

The criminal cases against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV were revived after the amnesty granted to him by then president Benigno Aquino III was declared void by President Duterte. While the amnesty was granted to a group of rebel soldiers following the same procedures, only Trillanes lost the privilege.

Malacañang argues that the amnesty granted to Trillanes was invalid because he did not apply for it, and only Aquino’s defense chief Voltaire Gazmin approved it. Aquino has said his amnesty proclamation covered all the rebel soldiers.

Yesterday, Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati Regional Trial Court’s Branch 150 set aside materials presented by Trillanes to prove that his amnesty grant is valid. Alameda went along with the petition of the Department of Justice and ordered Trillanes’ arrest for rebellion. But the judge allowed Trillanes to post P200,000 bail.

Trillanes might yet end up back in detention for the crime of coup d’etat in connection with the Oakwood mutiny. This was filed before another Makati trial court, Branch 148. The offense normally does not allow bail.

Malacañang voided the amnesty on the same day that Trillanes’ committee began its probe into possible conflict of interest and graft against Solicitor General Jose Calida, whose family-owned security company has bagged several contracts with various government agencies. The President said the voiding of Trillanes’ amnesty was the idea of Calida, who was also the one who initiated a quo warranto petition to kick out Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice.

Still to be resolved is whether Malacañang can void an amnesty without Senate approval for individual recipients. The Supreme Court under Teresita de Castro, however, has refused to touch the amnesty issue.

Some quarters argue that what applies to one should apply to all. With Alameda’s order, all the other rebel soldiers who were given amnesty together with Trillanes, some of them now working for the government, are in limbo.

The amnesty given by Fidel Ramos during his presidency to those who launched coup attempts against Corazon Aquino may also be affected. Among the recipients are Sen. Gregorio Honasan, Armed Forces chief Carlito Galvez and Chairman Danilo Lim of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

If the government is challenging the validity of Trillanes’ amnesty, it should also go after the other recipients. Failing to do this bolsters accusations that the government, supported by a compliant judiciary, is engaged not in prosecution but persecution of its critics.