Testimonies better proof than amnesty application form —Trillanes lawyer

The lawyer of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV believes witness testimonies are better evidence in court than the actual, still-missing form the senator used to apply for amnesty in 2011.

Reynaldo Robles said Friday that the best evidence rule, the principle invoked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the judge who ordered his client's arrest, does not apply in the senator's case.

He said the rule only applies in cases where the issue is the contents of the document.

"Ang pinag-uusapan dito, nag-file ba o hindi, 'yung act of physical filing, so lahat ng klaseng ebidensya dapat tanggapin," Robles told reporters after a hearing at the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150.

"In fact, testimonial evidence will be the best evidence, secondary na lang 'yung kung ano 'yung laman ng dokumento, kasi hindi naman issue dito 'yung laman ng dokumento," he added.

"We have the form, alam natin kung anong nakalagay d'on sa dokumento. Meron tayong testimonya ng mga testigo na nagsasabi na kumpleto at may kasamang pag-amin sa loob ng dokumento."

The Revised Rules on Evidence state that only the original document itself is admissible as evidence "when the subject of inquiry is the contents of a document," subject to some exceptions, such as when the original copy is lost or destroyed, "without bad faith on the part of the offeror."

Also an exception is "when the original is a public record in the custody of a public officer or is recorded in a public office."

Last month, Judge Elmo Alameda, the presiding judge of Branch 150, ordered Trillanes' arrest, convinced the latter did not file an application partly on the basis of an Armed Forces record custodian's certification that there was no available copy of the form.

Alameda disregarded the documents submitted by the defense which supported Trillanes' claim that he applied "since the existence of the official copy of the amnesty application form could not be established."

Trillanes is appealing the ruling.

Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, the lead prosecutor in the coup d'etat case against Trillanes over the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, also believes the "best evidence" is the document itself.

"Ang punto dito is what is the best evidence as proof that you really filed? Is it the testimony of people who were with you, is it pictures, is it interviews? No, the best evidence here would be the document itself," Fadullon told reporters last week.

During a hearing at Branch 148 last week, the defense presented witnesses who said Trillanes applied and complied with the requirements. Two of the four witnesses were part of the Defense committee that processed amnesty applications.

However, prosecution witnesses said there were no records of amnesty applications and of proceedings relating to amnesty applications pursuant to the 2010 grant by former president Benigno Aquino III. —KBK, GMA News