Calida mum on role in Duterte’s revocation of Trillanes amnesty

Solicitor General Jose Calida was tight-lipped on Tuesday about his role in the process that led to the nullification of the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, officer-in-charge of the national government while President Rodrigo Duterte is in Israel, said the review of Trillanes' amnesty "might have been" carried out by the Office of the Solicitor General.

"I am not sure who exactly conducted the review but I suppose this might have been studied in the past by the Office of the Solicitor General," Guevarra said. He added that he does not personally know when the review started, but said it "has been there for quite some time."

However, Calida, the government's chief lawyer. repeatedly invoked lawyer-client privileged communication when asked about his involvement in the review.

"As I said, I'm invoking my privileged communication between client and counsel because I am the lawyer for the republic," he said.

He repeated the statement when asked if he initiated or asked for a recommendation during the review and if he was aware of the Duterte proclamation prior to its publication.

The link between Trillanes and Calida stems most recently from a Senate inquiry into the alleged conflict of interest involved in government contracts bagged by a security agency owned by the Calida family.

The Calida family has turned to the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a temporary restraining order against the Senate investigation. Trillanes, who called the Calida motion baseless, pushed through with a hearing on Tuesday.

Calida said he was "ready" for another SC bout against Trillanes, this time on the issue of the amnesty nullification.

Trillanes' amnesty over his involvement in unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration was deemed void from the beginning, after the administration found he had missed two requirements: an official application and an express admission of guilt.

The senator countered that he had complied with all the requirements.