MAGDALO Representative Gary Alejano on Friday, September 7 said the flawed recording system of the Department of National Defense (DND) must be investigated.
Alejano said that aside from distracting the Filipino people from the real issues, Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572 which revoked the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in 2011 highlights the government’s flaws.
“The Duterte administration claims that the amnesty granted to Senator Trillanes is void because he did not apply to begin with. This was based on a mere certification issued by a division chief that there is no available copy of Sen. Trillanes’ application. Sa madaling salita, nawawala ng Department of National Defense ang kanilang kopya,” said Alejano.
The DND earlier claimed that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV did not file an application for amnesty in relation to the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula incident in 2007.
The lawmaker said the basis for the issuance of President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to revoke the amnesty given to Trillanes is laughable, especially since there are documents and videos showing that Trillanes had filed an application for amnesty.
Alejano said this failure on the part of the DND should be considered a crime under Article 226 of the Revised Penal Code and Section 40 of Republic Act 9470 or the National Archives of the Philippines Act.
“Ito ay malinaw na nagpapakita ng kapabayaan sa parte ng mga opisina ng pamahalaan... Kung papeles nga ng ganito kalaking kaso ay nawawala, papaano pa ang mga tala ng mga ordinaryong indibidwal?” he said.
(This is a clear case of negligence on the part of the government. If they could lose documents pertaining to huge cases like this, how much more for cases involving ordinary citizens?)
Given the sensitivity of the documents, Alejano said the government should have exercised extra caution in handling these documents.
“The documentation and record-keeping system of the government must be looked into especially the offices which handle documents of high importance,” he said.
Alejano said he will file a resolution calling for an inquiry on the matter. (SunStar Philippines)