Friday, June 15, 2007
Rebel soldier now a senator-elect (11:49 a.m.)
MANILA -- Detained Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV on Friday made political history in the country by becoming first ever person to be proclaimed as senator despite being held for coup raps.
Clad in a white Barong Tagalog and escorted by Senator Rodolfo Biazon, Trillanes was declared the 11th winner in the senatorial race for 12 Senate seats held last May 14. He had 11,138,067 votes as of Thursday's partial and official tally.
At 35, Trillanes is also the youngest member of the Upper House and the seventh candidate of the Genuine Opposition (GO) to be proclaimed. Other GO candidates already proclaimed were Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar, Benigno Aquino III and Alan Peter Cayetano.
Trillanes is charged with coup d'etat for his involvement in the short-lived Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.
As senator, Trillanes has vowed to look into corruption in the military and death squads allegedly existing in the Armed Forces. (Sunnex) |
