Guevarra: Amnesty can be reviewed, revoked anytime

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday defended the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to revoke the amnesty given to opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV by the Aquino administration.

Duterte formalized the revocation through Proclamation 572 issued on August 31, citing  Trillanes’ failure to apply for amnesty and refusal to admit to his crimes in connection with the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula Siege in 2007.

As a result, the President ordered the arrest of Trillanes and for the Department of Justice and Armed Forces of the Philippines to pursue all administrative and criminal cases against him.

“The matter of taking a look at whether amnesty granted is valid or not is something that can be done at any time because probably you’ve seen from the proclamation if that grant of amnesty is declared to be void then it can be attacked at any time because it’s void,” Guevarra told Palace reporters in a phone interview.

“And the matter of timing is irrelevant. There is no time element or prescriptive period for something to be attacked if from the beginning it is void,” he added.

Guevarra is currently the officer-in-charge of the national government while Duterte is out of the country for official visits to Israel and Jordan.

The Justice chief said he already has a copy of the proclamation which was published in a newspaper on Tuesday.

Trillanes said he is ready to face arrest following the President’s directive. —KG, GMA News