The Court of Appeals has sustained the ruling of a Makati City regional trial court denying the plea of the government to issue a warrant of arrest against former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in connection with the dismissed coup d’etat case against him.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Edwin Sorongon, the CA’s Special 11th Division resolved to dismiss the state’s petition seeking to reverse the orders of Makati RTC Judge Andres Soriano issued in October 2018.
The lower court earlier junked the motion of the Department of Justice seeking the issuance of an arrest warrant against the former Navy officer for his involvement in the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003.
In its motion, the DOJ cited President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572 which nullified the amnesty granted to Trillanes.
The appellate court held that the 1987 Constitution does not prohibit the President from revoking the grant of an amnesty if he finds that the recipient failed to comply with the conditions.
In Trillanes’ case, however, the CA gave weight to the trial court’s findings that he filed his application for amnesty in January 2011 pursuant to then-President Benigno Aquino III’s Proclamation No. 75 and admitted his guilt for the offenses, contrary to the Duterte administration’s claims.
The appellate court also affirmed the validity of the RTC’s decision to dismiss the coup d’etat charges as a result of the amnesty.
“Therefore, it cannot be said that the grant of amnesty in favor of private respondent was validly revoked. As a result, the charges against private respondent in connection with the offenses ‘forgotten’ or forgiven by the amnesty must be necessarily dropped,” the CA said.
Associate Justices Perpetua Susana Atal-Paño and Raymond Reynold Lauigan concurred with the ruling.