Trillanes says amnesty revocation 'political persecution'

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday branded as a political persecution the move of President Rodrigo Duterte to revoke his amnesty.

Trillanes said contrary to what Duterte claims in Proclamation 572, he applied for amnesty and complied with all the requirements.

"Ito ay isang malaking kalokohan. Alam niyo po hindi naman ako bibigyan ng amnesty kung hindi ako nagcomply sa mga requirements," Trillanes told reporters in the Senate.

"Sumumpa ako kay former Secretary of Defense Voltaire Gazmin at mapapatotohanan 'yan ng DND officials. Absolutely complied lahat 'yan."

Signed by Duterte on August 31, 2018, Proclamation No. 572 stated that the amnesty extended to Trillanes was void from the start because he did not comply with the "minimum requirements to qualify under the amnesty proclamation."

Trillanes, a vocal critic of the Duterte administration, said he has in his possession a certificate of amnesty to prove his claim.

In availing of the amnesty, Trillanes had filled out an application form and signed the sections that state they were agreeing to their "general admission of guilt" that they violated military rules and the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

"We are man enough to admit that we have broken rules," he said then.

Trillanes, during Tuesday's interview, said civil charges filed against him in connection with the two military uprisings he participated in when he was a Navy officer had also been dismissed.

"Yung mga kaso sa civilian courts na-dismiss iyan, so ano ngayon ang magiging basis ng pag-aresto?" he said.

The senator said his lawyers are now exhausting all remedies even as he expressed readiness to go with the arresting officers if ever he is arrested.

Trillanes and the other soldiers who joined the military uprisings during the Arroyo administration were able to avail of amnesty by virtue of Proclamation 75 issued in November 2010 by then-President Benigno Aquino III.

That proclamation granted amnesty to all active and former personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their supporters who committed acts or omissions punishable under the Revised Penal Code, the Articles of War or other special laws related to the following:

• the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny;
• the February 2006 Marines Stand-Off;
• the November 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula Incident, and/or related incidents "provided that amnesty shall not cover crimes against chastity and other crimes committed for personal ends."

Aquino's amnesty proclamation was then sent to Congress which then gave its concurrence. —KBK, GMA News