Thursday, September 18, 2008 CA hangs action on Trillanes's plea vs rebellion trial
THE Court of Appeals (CA) on Wednesday deferred action on the petition of detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to stop the court from pursuing the rebellion charges against them in connection with the November 29, 2007 Peninsula siege in Makati City.
Aside from the rebellion case, Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant, stood charged for coup d'etat in another branch of the Makati Regional Trial Court in connection with the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
Trillanes was joined by other junior officers, namely: Captains Gary Alejano and Segundino Orfiano Jr.; Lieutenant Senior Grades James Layug, Manuel Cabochan, Eugene Gonzalez and Andy Torrato; Lieutenant Junior Grade Arturo Pascua Jr.; 1st Lieutenant Billy Pascua; 2nd Lieutenant Jonnell Sangalang; Ensign Armand Pontejos; Corporal Clecarte Dahan; and Privates First Class Juanito Jilbury and Julius and Yassir Gonzalez.
No bail was recommended for their temporary liberty.
Navy Captain Nicanor Faeldon, who is also an accused in the Oakwood mutiny case, fled from the Peninsula before police breached it at the height of the standoff. He remains at large.
In a resolution penned by Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr., the CA Fourth Division held in abeyance the resolution on Trillanes and his co-accused's petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the finding of probable cause of Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati RTC Branch 150.
The CA said the grounds relied upon by petitioners for the issuance of the injunctive relief are the same grounds that need to be evaluated in resolving the present petition on its merits, thus is cannot "reasonably proceed to rule on the preventive relief without delving into the merits of the present case."
"This Court deems it proper to hold in abeyance the resolution of herein petitioners' plea for TRO or writ of preliminary injunction as any initial action taken thereon will definitely prejudge the final outcome of the present petition," said the CA.
It added that the rise and fall of the petition hinges on the propriety of the conclusion earlier arrived at by the Makati court in its assailed order dated December 13, 2007 finding probable cause to indict the rebel soldiers for rebellion, as well as the order for their continued detention at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The court also directed Trillanes and prosecutors to submit simultaneous memoranda within 15 days stating their respective positions so that the court may study it more judiciously, after which the case would be deemed submitted for resolution.
Court records showed that the soldiers walked out of the Makati court hearing their coup d'etat case, marched to the Peninsula, and holed out at the hotel for about six hours calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The petitioners sought a TRO from the CA pending its evaluation of the petition on the merits of the case in order to relieve them from further grave and irreparable injury caused by the assailed RTC Order.
They contended that the walkout of the hearing of their criminal case, the march along the streets of Makati going to the Peninsula, and the holding of a press conference where an anti-administration statement was read do not constitute the crime of rebellion.
They said the acts attributed to them were but a "legitimate exercise of the people's right to peaceably assemble and seek redress for grievances and to free speech."
Moreover, they pointed out that there was no evidence at all that the Manila Peninsula incident involved any "armed uprising" or that there were masses or multitudes involving crowd action, or a "complex net of intrigue and plots. Nor was there a single gunshot fired by any of the accused."
But Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, who heads the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Task Force on Rebellion, said: "Walking out of the court in the midst of trial and having themselves surrounded by armed men in public does not only display respondents' contumacious act of disrespect to the court but also shows their open hostility against the government."
Among the evidence gathered by the prosecution were the November 29, 2007 arrest order of Makati Judge Oscar Pimentel against Trillanes, computer printouts entitled "Statement," handwritten notes outlining his alleged escape plan, an ANC video footage of the incident, and the high-powered firearms and several rounds of ammunition and explosives recovered from the second floor of the hotel where the group holed up.
The "escape plan," on the other hand, showed that there was premeditated planning by respondents, hatched not only by the accused in the military ranks but also in coordination with its civilian components.
Ruling on the DOJ complaint, Alameda then issued an order dated December 13, 2007 finding probable cause to indict the rebel soldiers for rebellion, prompting respondents to appeal with the CA.
While the petition was pending at the CA, the trial court issued the assailed Order dated February 5, 2008, which ruled that Trillanes and several other junior officers "disrespected the hearing at the Makati RTC by staging a walkout" and perpetrating rebellion with the siege of the Peninsula hotel. (ECV/Sunnex)
