OPPOSITION lawmakers, including Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, questioned the legality of the arrest of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday, September 25.
“Ang comment ko lang diyan ay may bumigay sa pressure ng administrasyon na ‘to dahil maliwanag na before you can even issue a warrant of arrest you have to go to three stages back. You have first to revive the case before you can issue a warrant of arrest and before you can revive the case the amnesty should have revoked,” Alejano said in a press conference Tuesday.
(My only comment is that somebody gave in to pressure from this administration because it is clear that before you can even issue a warrant of arrest, you have to go to three stages back.)
“Ngayon kung nagbigay sila ng warrant of arrest then ibig sabihin maliwanag na na-nullify ang amnesty na kung saan ay hindi ito unilateral action ng executive department, merong concurrence ito ng Congress at obliterated na nga,” he added.
(With the issuance of a warrant of arrest, this means that the amnesty was nullified and that this was not a unilateral action of the executive department. There must have been concurrence by Congress.)
According to Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the decision of the Makati RTC “should not be implemented until Supreme Court makes a final decision.”
“Yan sa palagay ko ay hindi pinal. Kailangang bumalik sa Korte Suprema upang madesisyunan ng korte suprema kung tama ba yung sinasabing fact finding o tama ba yung pag-issue ng warrant of arrest,” explained Lagman.
(I think that is not final yet. We have to go back to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will have to decide whether the issuance of the warrant of arrest was proper.)
Trillanes filed a petition for certiorari with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against Proclamation No. 527 before the High Court last September 6.
On September 11, the SC dismissed his prayer for a halt order saying that “there is no extreme and urgent necessity for the Court to issue an injunctive relief considering that the respondents have acknowledged Senator Trillanes' right to due process.”
In the same decision, it said that the Makati RTC should be given leeway in exercising its jurisdiction to resolve pleadings in relation to the assailed proclamation.
The main petition, which challenges the constitutionality of the proclamation that revoked Trillanes's amnesty, however, remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Amid the decision of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150, Alejano said he will still believe in democracy.
“I will continue to believe in our democracy. Sundin natin ang legality. Papakita natin na meron talagang panggigipit sa oposisyon. At the end of the day ang katotohanan ay hindi po matatalo,” he said.
(Let us abide by the law. We will show that there is a crackdown against the opposition. At the end of the day, truth will prevail.)
Alejano was among those who benefited from Proclamation 75 issued by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2010 that granted amnesty to those involved in the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, the Marine standoff in 2006 and the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007. (SunStar Philippines)