Trillanes beefs up legal team with Agabin, Hilbay, Chan

Embattled opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has added three legal heavyweights in his defense team amid the revocation of his amnesty.

In a press statement Thursday, Trillanes said former UP College of Law Dean Pacifico Agabin, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, and law professor Joselito Chan will complete the legal team.

The three will join lawyer Reynaldo Robles in representing him for the pending cases before the Supreme Court and regional trial courts regarding President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572, which voided the amnesty granted to him in 2010.

"While I believe that the illegal voiding of my amnesty and the cases filed before the Makati Regional Trial courts related to this are part of Duterte’s political harassment, I have talked to some of the best legal minds in the country who are willing to stand for the rule of law," he said.

"They believe that if this illegal act would not be corrected, our country’s democracy would be in peril."

Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano will hear on Thursday morning the Department  of Justice motion to issue warrant of arrest and  hold departure order against Trillanes.

Trillanes expressed optimism that courts "will correct this executive overreach and adhere to the rule of law despite Duterte’s twisting of laws just to achieve his aim of silencing his critics." —Amita Legaspi/KBK, GMA News