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Calida inquiry triggered review of Trillanes amnesty requirements —AFP spokesperson


An inquiry from Solicitor General Jose Calida triggered the review of the amnesty given to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, which has been revoked by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a press conference on Monday, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo was asked directly who started the inquiry that triggered the whole process.

"The Solicitor General did," he said.

Arevalo, along with Department of National Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong and DND Internal Audit Service chief Atty. Ronald Patrick Rubin, admitted they were not familiar with the procedure that took place before they assumed their current posts.

"Mahirap kaming mag-hazard kami ng proseso that I'm not familiar with," Arevalo said.

"But, for now, siguro ang importante lang na aspeto doon yung bases for the revocation is 'yung hinahanap na record ay sinagot na ng J1 that they do not have a copy of it on file," he added.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had also 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.

However, Calida invoked lawyer-client privileged communication when he was 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," the government's chief lawyer said during a separate interview.

Minimum requirements

President Rodrigo Duterte on August 31 signed Proclamation No. 572 which declared the amnesty extended to the opposition senator void because he failed to comply with the "minimum requirements to qualify."

Arevalo said the proclamation would bring Trillanes back to his former status as an active military personnel, leaving him subject to military rules and discipline.

"The acting AFP chief of staff, Lieutenant General Salvador Melchor Mison Jr. , has already instructed the re-convening of a general  Court Martial that shall be hearing the case of Lieutenant Trillanes," Arevalo said.

"The fact that he was reverted to military custody and he regains his military personality, then kung anong magiging ruling ng Court Martial, that would apply to him," he added. —Margaret Claire Layug/JST, GMA News

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