PNP: No order to arrest Trillanes without warrant

There is no order yet for the police to arrest Senator Antonio Trillanes IV if ever he steps out of Senate premises, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana.

Durana made the comment Friday after Trillanes claimed that PNP personnel camped outside the Senate were ready to bring him in if he attempts to leave the Senate and head home.

"As far as the Philippine National Police is concerned, I haven't heard that kind of order coming from the leadership," he said during an interview.

PNP spokesperson Sr. Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. on Friday said that PNP is there at the Senate to maintain peace and order and to take a proactive stance so that if an arrest warrant is issued against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, it will be “easier”. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/wjIg1yB1m9

— Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) September 14, 2018

The police official reiterated that Trillanes will only be arrested if the Makati courts that handled the senator's rebellion cases in the past would issue the warrant being requested by the Department of Justice.

Durana also said they will have to look into Trillanes' allegation that his vehicle was being tailed by men aboard motorcycles as it went out of the Senate building for two consecutive days.

"We will have to check on that because that's just a statement from the senator," Durana said.

Trillanes has been holed up at the Senate since last week after President Rodrigo Duterte nullified his amnesty, saying that the lawmaker did not comply with the "minimum requirements to qualify under the amnesty proclamation."

Duterte also directed the DOJ and Court Martial of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to pursue all criminal and administrative cases filed against Trillanes in connection with the 2003 Oakwood and 2007 Manila Peninsula incidents.

Some 40 police and military personnel, including operatives from the PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), went to the Senate after Duterte issued his proclamation on September 4.

Durana clarified that deploying police officers to the Senate was a "proactive stance" on their part, to ensure the law is enforced "if and when" a warrant of arrest  is issued.

"One, for peace and order. Number two, it's a pro-active stance on our part, whenever, if and when a warrant of arrest is issued by relevant courts, it'll easier and efficient to serve the warrant of arrest,"  he said.

He added that members of the CIDG were deployed under the "judgement of the director of the CIDG chief [Roel Obusan]."

"I'm not saying that CIDG is there for peace and order. [The] Pasay (police) is there for peace and order. [The] CIDG is there for another purpose, a more high profile case. That's why we have to put our people there who are probably more proficient, more efficient in handling more sensational cases," Durana said. — Jessica Bartolome/MDM, GMA News