THE amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV by the Aquino government was “defective” and 'totally flawed,” President Rodrigo Duterte said.
“In the first place, the amnesty allowing his release was void. Therefore, his getting out of the custody was also void. Walang basis kasi yung (There's no basis because the) amnesty was defective, fatally flawed,” Duterte said in an interview in Davao City, hitting Trillanes, one of his fiercest critics.
“Mango tree is mango tree, calamansi is calamansi. ‘Yung sa kanya (In his case), nothing valid would come out from a void document,” he added.
Duterte insisted that Trillanes failed to comply with the requirements needed for an amnesty.
Trillanes maintained that he had complied with the requirements.
Defending his decision to void Trillanes's amnesty, the President branded the rebel-soldier-turned-lawmaker as someone “pretending to be a crusading soldier who did nothing.”
“Itong si Trillanes, sundalo. Nag-make believe siya doon sa mga sundalo na (Trillanes was a soldier. He made soldiers believed that) he was all for the military. And he never gave a hoot,” Duterte said.
“He not only abandoned the vision of the military. He became a corrupt guy, collecting diyan sa mga negosyante (money from the businessmen),” he added.
Duterte issued Proclamation 572 on August 30, voiding the amnesty that absolves Trillanes over charges for leading two failed mutinies against former president and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
On Thursday, September 6, Trillanes's camp asked the Supreme Court to overrule the nullification of his amnesty.
Duterte said he would defer to the judiciary on Trillanes's case.
“You think this is valid? You think you can tinker with the Consitution na ganon na lang (by doing that)? We're supposed to die for that Constitution,” he said.
“Ngayon if the Supreme Court says that my proclamation is invalid, so let it fall. But kung sabihin ng Supreme Court sa akin, as a head of department, anong kasalanan, anong pagkamali ko diyan sa non-compliance [ni Trillanes]?”
(Now, if the Supreme Court says that my proclamation is invalid, so let it fall. But if the Supreme Court tells me that as head of department, where is my fault, what did I do wrong?) (SunStar Philippines)