THE Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) decried the move of President Rodrigo Duterte issuing a proclamation revoking the amnesty granted to one of his bitter critics, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
In a statement, the IBP said that an amnesty, once granted, cannot be simply dissolved by the invocation of the words “void ab initio” or “to be treated as invalid from the outset” as though it were some magical incantation that can nullify vested rights.
“A person released by amnesty stands before the law precisely as though he had committed no offense,” the IBP said.
Under Proclamation 572 signed on Aug. 31, Duterte ordered Trillanes, a former Navy officer who was among the leaders of the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, be arrested and charged criminally and administratively.
IBP stressed that amnesty is an exercise of sovereign power that automatically confers upon the grantee the vested right of the obliteration of his or her “offense.”
The lawyers’ group said it is “deeply concerned” on the executive branch’s stand that it can overturn final dismissals of criminal charges by the courts.
“Arresting and incarcerating Trillanes for offenses dismissed by amnesty runs roughshod over the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy that no person shall be held to answer twice for the same criminal offense,” they said.
They called on the public for “sobriety in this time of political confusion.”
The IBP also urged the court to “resist collateral attacks against its judgments and creeping incursions on its independence,” saying that they are the “most powerful bastion” that protects one’s constitutional rights. (GMD)