SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV posted P200,000 bail hours after the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 issued a warrant for his arrest Tuesday, September 25.
Trillanes, in an interview at the Senate Tuesday afternoon, said the issuance of the arrest warrant against him meant the death of democracy in the country.
"Natalo po ang demokrasya ngayong araw na ito... Officially ay wala na po tayong demokrasya (Democracy in the country was defeated today. It's officially dead)," he said.
The Makati RTC Branch 150 issued the arrest warrant after rebellion charges against the senator were revived based on Proclamation 572. The senator was charged over his involvement in the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007.
Another Makati court, RTC Branch 148 which is handling the coup d'etat charges against Trillanes over the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, has yet to issue an arrest warrant.
Both uprisings were staged against the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration by the Magdalo, a group of dissident soldiers that is now a party-list organization with representation in Congress.
"Gaya ng sinasabi ko last week, itong mga petisyon namin sa korte ay pagsubok sa ating demokrasya. Kahit pinakita na namin lahat ng ebidensya ay gayun pa rin, inilabas pa rin itong warrant of arrest na ito... This case goes beyond me," Trillanes said.
(As I said last week, the petitions we have filed in court will serve as test case for our democracy. Even if we presented all the evidence to support our case, an arrest warrant was still issued against me.)
"Nanaig ang kadiliman at kasamaan ito sa ating bayan. Kung ano man ang mangyayari sa hinaharap ay nasa kamay na ng buong Pilipino," he added.
(Evil has prevailed in our country. Whatever happens in the future lies in the hands of the Filipino nation.)
The senator was arrested about three weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 572 on August 31, voiding the amnesty granted to Trillanes by the Benigno Aquino III administration in 2010.
Aside from ordering his warrantless arrest, the proclamation ordered the Department of Justice and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Court Martial to revive the administrative and criminal charges against Trillanes in relation to the Magdalo uprisings.
Trillanes, who had been holed up at his 5th floor Senate office since the proclamation was made known on September 4, came down at around 3 p.m. Tuesday to the Senate lobby where he was met by National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Guillermo Eleazar, a Makati court sheriff and a couple of other police officers.
The senator was accompanied by Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and Senators Joel Villanueva, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Risa Hontiveros. The group exited the Senate building through the back door.
Among the reasons cited in Proclamation 572 for voiding Trillanes's amnesty were his alleged failure to file an official amnesty application before the Department of the National Defense and failure to admit guilt on the charges filed against him.
But in an interview Tuesday, Trillanes said he had shown all the evidences to prove that he filed an application for amnesty and admitted guilt for the 2007 siege.
"Ipinakita ko lahat ng dapat ipakita na ako ay nag-file ng amnesty. Nag-admit ako ng guilt. Lahat ng requirements doon sa amnesty ay ginampanan ko (I have shown evidence to prove that I filed for amnesty. I admitted guilt. I met all the requirements)," he said.
"Dito ay pinuwersa, binaluktot ang batas, kaya nag-fail itong ating demokrasya at mga institusyon," he added. (Our laws are being bent. That is why our democracy failed.) (LMY/With Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)