Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano on Friday deferred ruling on the government prosecutors plea to issue an arrest and hold departure order against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
The judge also ordered state prosecutors and the camp of Trillanes’ to submit evidence and set a hearing for 9 a.m. on Oct. 5.
“Without necessarily reopening the case or giving due course” to the prosecution’s motion, Soriano said, the parties are given a chance to present evidence on:
* Whether or not Trillanes filed the requisite application for amnesty under Proclamation 75 before he was granted amnesty in 2011, and
• Whether or not there was an admission of guilt on his part at the time he applied for and was granted amnesty.
In 2011, the court dismissed the case against Trillanes and the other Magdalo soldiers in connection with the Oakwood Mutiny by virtue of the amnesty given by the previous administration.
But the prosecution panel argued that Proclamation 572 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte recently, voids the court’s order of dismissal issued seven years ago.
Duterte said Trillanes had failed to present the necessary requirements in the application of the amnesty for the Oakwood Mutiny, the Marine standoff and the Manila Peninsula siege.
On Tuesday, Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda granted the motion filed by Department of Justice in connection with the rebellion case against Trillanes and other Magdalo soldiers over the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007.
Alameda said the Sept. 7, 2011 dismissal of the case can be considered void with no legal and binding effect considering the issuance of Proclamation 572. Trillanes posted P200,000 bail.
State prosecutors earlier asked Soriano and Alameda to order Trillanes’ arrest and prevent him from leaving the country, saying the nullification of his amnesty meant that the case against the senator related to the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege and 2011 Oakwood Mutiny must be pursued.
The military man-turned politician is also facing a separate coup d’etat case at the Branch 148 for leading the 2003 mutiny at the Oakwood Premier hotel, also in Makati City.
Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant, was among those who led the mutiny in Oakwood Premiere Hotel in Makati City on July 27, 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege on Nov. 29, 2007.
After seeking refuge in his Senate office for three weeks, Trillanes will be going home to his family on Saturday, after Makati RTC Branch 150 deferred the decision on issuing an arrest warrant against him.
“It’s a big relief not only for me but more importantly for the whole justice system and the democratic institution that was upheld by one Judge Soriano that despite all the pressures, he stood for what is the right and just procedure,” Trillanes said, saying this freed him to go home.
Trillanes said he opted to stay in the Senate to spare his family the trauma of his current ordeal.
“So this order of deferral issued by Judge Andres is a light in the whole darkness happening in our country today. You can just admire people of courage and integrity. Today, it was just personified by Judge Soriano. Now along those lines, I’m thankful to all the people who supported and prayed for me. That was a big thing so that what is right and the goodness prevailed in all this mess,” Trillanes said.
