Solicitor General Jose Calida on Monday insisted that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV had no copies of his application for amnesty and his admission of guilt for the rebellion he committed during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“There is no document or record evincing his admission of guilt or narrating the facts of his involvement or participation in the July 27, 2003, February 2006, or Nov. 29, 2007 incidents,” Calida said in a statement.
“There is no proof of his recantation of all his previous statements that are inconsistent with his admission of actual involvement and guilt.”
Calida said Trillanes deceived the trial courts into granting his motions to dismiss the coup d’etat and rebellion charges against him on the false premise that he had already complied with all the requirements to be eligible for amnesty.
“Thus, the grant of the amnesty to him through the Department of National Defense Ad Hoc Committee Resolution No. 2 is void,” Calida said.
On Aug. 31, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 572 declaring voided ab initio the amnesty granted to Trillanes by his predecessor President Benigno Aquino III in 2010.
Calida said Trillanes failed to meet the minimum requirements under Proclamation 75 issued by Aquino.
Calida said when Trillanes applied for amnesty, the people expected that he would comply with the requirements for the grant.
“Amnesty presupposes the commission of a crime. One must admit guilt before the state may grant an applicant forgiveness. Having failed to comply with these requirements, petitioner is therefore not entitled to the benefits of amnesty,” Calida said. PNA
He said Trillanes refused to admit the charges of coup d’etat and rebellion against him.
“His public statements that the criminal charges filed against him were improper further confirm his non-admission of guilt. Moreover, he failed to comply with the requirements enumerated under Proclamation No. 75, Concurrent Resolution No. 4, and the Order of the Regional Trial Court of Makati-Branch 148,” Calida said.
He said Article 5 of the Civil Code provides that non-compliance with mandatory laws such as Proclamation No. 75 voided the amnesty act, hence “President Rodrigo Roa Duterte aptly invoked the faithful execution clause under the Constitution and his ordinance powers and issued Proclamation No. 572, declaring the coverage of the petitioner under Proclamation No. 75 void.”
Aquino granted amnesty to active and former personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and their supporters who may have committed crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code, the Articles of War, and other laws in connection with the Oakwood Mutiny, the Marines Stand-Off, and the Manila Peninsula incident.
The DND Ad Hoc Committee was tasked to receive and process applications for amnesty and determine whether the applicants were entitled to amnesty.
The House of Representatives and the Senate concurred with Proclamation 75 on Dec. 13 and 14, 2010, respectively, by issuing Concurrent Resolution 4, which required “No application for amnesty shall be given due course without the applicant admitting his guilt or criminal culpability of any or all of the subject incidents in writing as expressed in the application….”
On Dec. 16, 2010, Trillanes and co-accused James Layug and Gary Alejano urgently moved for the suspension of the promulgation of judgment in Criminal Case 03-2784 for coup d’etat scheduled on the same day by the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 because of Proclamation 75 that rendered the motion for cancellation academic.
The Makati RTC Branch 148 granted the urgent motion but required the petitioner and his co-accused to provide copies of their respective written applications for amnesty submitted to the DND Ad Hoc Committee on or before Jan. 22, 2011.
Trillanes and the other accused, however, did not comply with this requirement, according to Calida.
Last week, Calida asked Trillanes to apologize for accusing the Solicitor General of stealing the lawmakers’ amnesty application documents.