State prosecutors found probable cause to file a criminal case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in connection with the grave threats complaint lodged by former congressman and now Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras.
The case was raffled to Pasay City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 47 Judge Joeven Dellosa who set its arraignment and preliminary conference for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 15.
The court gave Trillanes 10 days to file his counter-affidavit.
In his complaint, Paras said Trillanes threatened him during a Senate hearing they both attended last year. He filed a complaint for grave threats against the senator.
During a Senate hearing on May 29, 2018, Trillanes told Paras: “Ang lakas ng loob mo. Hindi magtatagal ang amo mo. Matatapos din ‘yan. Yayariin kita. Mercenaryo ka. Yayariin kita.”
(“You think you’re so tough? Your boss won’t be there for long. His time will end. I will get you. You’re a mercenary. I will get you.”)
Lawyers Lorenzo Gadon and Elligio Mallari accompanied Paras in filing the complaint.
Trillanes brushed off the complaint and said he was ready to face the charge against him.
“There is no truth in that complaint. He has the zero-credibility of a cellphone thief,” said Trillanes, apparently referring to the theft case filed by Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin against Paras.
Trillanes also said the latest case was proof that the allies of President Rodrigo Duterte would do anything to harass his opponents and critics.
READ: Grave threat raps worsen Trillanes’ legal troubles
Under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code, a threat to kill a person is punishable by prision correccional or a jail term of six months and one day to six years.
Also last year, the Pasay City prosecutors office found probable cause to charge Trillanes for inciting to sedition when he allegedly incited soldiers to shoot President Duterte during his privilege speech in October 2017.
But Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Joahna Gabatino-Lim dismissed the complaint of conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’etat against the senator.
Both cases were filed also by Paras.
Trillanes shot back at the President, calling him “crazy” for twisting the justice system.
“He [Duterte] was the one killing ordinary Filipinos, ordering soldiers to rape women, ordering the kidnap and torture of COA [Commission on Audit] members, and the holdup of bishops, and then, I
was the one charged with grave threat by his minions,” Trillanes said. “He’s really crazy.”
“Anyway, like all the other harassment cases filed against me, I will face this squarely,” he added. “Precisely, I will show these people that I am not afraid of them.”
