The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 has directed Senator Antonio Trillanes IV through counsel to present before the court a copy of his amnesty application form after President Duterte voided the amnesty grant for noncompliance of the rules.
Trillanes’ counsel lawyer Reynaldo Robles told the court they “can’t find his (Trillanes) copy” and committed to file a video evidence showing that Trillanes, a former Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade filed an application and was received by a certain Col. JosefaBerbigal.
But Judge Elmo Alameda said the video has not yet been authenticated.
“The court needs actual application form,” Alameda said, noting it would be the primary evidence in the case.
Robles insisted that records of the Department of National Defense will show that Trillanes applied.
He added they have circumstantial evidence that would prove that the senator did apply for amnesty, such as the amnesty certificate, photos of Trillanes holding a copy of his application form published in a broadsheet, and memorandum to the DND AdHoc Committee.
Robles also pressed that the Makati RTC no longer has jurisdiction over the rebellion case having been dismissed seven years ago after Trillianes was granted amnesty by Pres. Aquino.
Back to zero
Richard Fadullon, acting Prosecutor General explained that with Proclamation 572 issued by President Duterte voiding the amnesty given to Trillanes, “we revert back to the situation prior to the dismissal.”
In 2011, Alameda dismissed the rebellion charges against Trillanes after he was granted amnesty.
Fadullon said Pres. Aquino’s amnesty grant under Proclamation 75 has been superseded by the Duterte proclamation (572), the lower court’s dismissal becomes void.
But Robles countered Proclamation 75 is valid “until judicially annulled.”
During the hearing, Fadullon presented a certificate signed by Lieutenant Colonel Thea Joan Andrade, Chief of Discipline Law and Order Division, saying Trillanes’ “records in applying for the amnesty are not found.”
During the hearing, the court granted the request of the prosecution to be given five days to reply to the comment and opposition of the senator against the merits of the Omnibus Motion filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
source: manila bulletin
