Ex-amnesty panel chief confirms Trillanes applied for amnesty

The former chair of the committee handling applications for amnesty at the Department of National Defense on Sunday confirmed that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV applied for the reprieve and admitted guilt to the crimes he pleaded pardon for.

Former Defense Secretary Honorio Azcueta, who chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on Amnesty, made the remark in a text message.

"Obviously. That's why on records he was granted amnesty," Azcueta said when asked if Trillanes indeed applied for amnesty and admitted guilt.

Trillanes, a former Navy officer, took part in unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration.

Duterte has signed Proclamation No. 572 stating that the amnesty extended to Trillanes in 2011 by former President Benigno Aquino III was void from the start because he did not comply with the "minimum requirements to qualify under the amnesty proclamation."

The grant of amnesty, which was concurred by Congress, was stipulated in Aquino's Proclamation No. 75.

Duterte cited a certification from the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel that there is no available copy of Trillanes' application for amnesty.

However, several documents have already surfaced certifying that Trillanes applied for amnesty.

Former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who approved the recommendations of the ad hoc committee to grant amnesty to Trillanes, said its entire process was above board.

“As far as I can remember all those who were granted amnesty went thru the process,” Gazmin said in a statement on Thursday.

As far as he is concerned, Azcueta said he did his part very well in processing Trillanes' application for amnesty.

"I can honestly say that as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Amnesty, I conscientiously did my job in accordance with the Proclamation No. 75 and its rules," he said.

What made the event confusing, however, is the narration of the incidents according to the executive department and Trillanes' camp.

"Their narrations of their participation in the incidents may be different," he said.

Duterte has already said the military should wait for the order issued by a competent court before they carry out Trillanes' arrest. —Erwin Colcol/KG, GMA News