DOJ says amnesty form that Trillanes signed ‘defective’

Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon on Friday branded as "defective" the amnesty application form filled up by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and others who availed of the 2010 presidential grant.

This, because the form supposedly lacks specific crimes - such as coup d'etat and rebellion - for the former mutineers to admit guilt to, Fadullon told reporters after a Makati court hearing on a government motion seeking Trillanes' arrest.

"Our opinion is that the form itself is defective. The thing there is it could have been corrected if they were able to show na meron talagang pag-amin, kasi parang napaka-seryoso nu'ng offense para lang gawin mong check-the-box and then fill-in-the-blanks, parang ganun lang ang nangyari eh," he said.

Section 26 of the amnesty application form has three check boxes: one each for the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the 2006 Marines Stand-off, and the 2007 Peninsula Manila Hotel incident.

Below that is the following statement, with space for the applicant's printed name and signature:

"I hereby acknowledge that my involvement/participation in the subject incident/s constituted a violation of the 1987 Constitution, criminal laws and the Articles of War. I hereby recant my previous statements that are contrary, if any, to this express admission of involvement/participation and guilt."

However, Fadullon said one does not admit guilt to an incident, because "an incident is not an offense."

"As a consequence of that incident, there are crimes for which they were charged. 'Yun ang sinasabi ng batas na 'yun ang i-aadmit mo na kung saan ka guilty," he explained.

He said the supposed deficiency in the form could have been remedied by the filing of a specific affidavit where the amnesty applicant admits to and asks for forgiveness for crimes they committed -- but "nothing has been presented" so far.

In open court, the prosecution chief asked two defense witnesses on whether or not the incidents referred to in the application form amounted to crimes. Both said the former mutineers were already charged.

"They have been charged already," said Col. Josefa Berbigal, the head of the secretariat of the Department of National Defense committee tasked to receive and process applications.

The chairman of the committee, former Defense undersecretary Honorio Azcueta, said "if there is guilt, there is crime." "They were charged," he said.

Other amnesty grantees in danger?

Meanwhile, Fadullon refused to speculate on whether or not a witness' admission would put Trillanes' fellow applicants at risk of losing the coverage of their amnesty grant.

Norman Daanoy, the DND's legal affairs chief, said in court that he found no records of minutes of proceedings and deliberations relating to amnesty applications pursuant to former president Benigno Aquino III's Proclamation No. 75.

This proclamation granted amnesty to former and active military and police personnel and their supporters in connection with offenses over the Oakwood Mutiny, the Marines Stand-off, and the Manila Peninsula Siege.

"We will not speculate on that. Defective, ang pinag-uusapan natin dito is a specific individual. We're confining ourselves to the proclamation, and Proclamation 572 pertains to...declaring void ab initio the application of Senator Trillanes," Fadullon said.

President Rodrigo Duterte's Proclamation No. 572 was made public in early September.

The hearing at the Makati Regional Trial Court's Branch 148 began at 9 a.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m. Judge Andres Soriano gave the defense until next Tuesday to file their formal offer of evidence, and allowed the prosecution to comment on the offer until Wednesday. —NB, GMA News