Robredo visits Trillanes at Senate for closed-door meeting

Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday visited Senator Antonio Trillanes IV at the Senate building, where he has been holed up since President Rodrigo Duterte issued a proclamation revoking his amnesty.

Robredo arrived at around 3:30 pm, but Trillanes and his wife Arlene were hearing mass at the time.

The two later had a closed-door meeting.

Robredo earlier said that the revocation of Trillanes' amnesty only proved that the administration will exhaust all means to silence its critics.

She also said it is meant to divert public attention from pressing issues, such as the recent price hikes of basic commodities, the rice shortage in some areas of the country, the weakening economy, the traffic problem and even government corruption.

Signed by Duterte on August 31, 2018, Proclamation No. 572 states that the amnesty extended to Trillanes, a vocal critic of the administration, was void from the start because the lawmaker did not comply with the "minimum requirements to qualify under the amnesty proclamation."

The senator is now placed under the custody of Senate President Vicente Sotto III. His legal counsel has filed the a petition before the Supreme Court to challenge Duterte's proclamation. —Jessica Bartolome/JST, GMA News