FORMER Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin may be charged with usurpation of authority for approving Senator Antonio Trillanes IV's application for amnesty, MalacaƱang said on Monday, September 10.
"Well, ito po ay isang krimen. At ang usurpation [of authority] po ay kapag merong isang tao na walang otoridad ang gaganap siya ng isang katungkulan na hindi naman para sa kanya," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said in a radio interview.
(It is a crime. Usurpation of authority is when an unauthorized person fulfills an obligation that is not within his mandate.)
"Kung titignan mo 'yung amnesty na pinirmahan para kay Senator Trillanes ay talagang 'yung nagbigay sa kanya ay 'yung dating Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin at hindi 'yung Presidente mismo," he added.
(If you look at the amnesty granted to Senator Trillanes, the one who approved it was former Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and not the [former] president himself.)
Trillanes was granted amnesty under the Benigno Aquino administration to absolve him of any liability for his involvement in the failed uprisings against then President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
President Rodrigo Duterte on August 31, through Proclamation 572, declared Trillanes's amnesty as void from the very beginning for alleged failure to comply with the requirements for amnesty.
Duterte also ordered Trillanes's arrest and the reopening of criminal and administrative charges against the senator.
On Saturday, September 8, Duterte claimed that usurpation of authority was committed when Gazmin recommended and granted amnesty to Trillanes.
Duterte emphasized that Trillanes's amnesty was "defective" and "totally flawed," as such power to grant amnesty is vested in the Commander-in-Chief and not in the Defense chief.
"Ang punto po ni Presidente, hindi lang kulang ng requirement 'yung amnesty ni Senator Trillanes, kung hindi pati 'yung tao na nag-bigay sa kanya ay walang otoridad sa ating batas na mag-bigay ng amnesty," he said.
(The President's point is that Senator Trillanes's amnesty does not only lack requirements but was also granted by a person without authority to grant amnesty.)
"Binigyan ng otoridad si Voltaire Gazmin na magbigay ng amnesty. Pero ang paninindigan ni Presidente, tanging Presidente lamang ang pupuwedeng magbigay ng amnesty. Dahil sa Saligang Batas, tanging Presidente lang ang may kapangyarihan na magbigay ng ganyang amnesty," he added.
(Voltaire Gazmin was given the authority to grant amnesty. But the President's stance is that only a president can grant amnesty. Under the Constitution, only the president has the power to grant amnesty.) (SunStar Philippines)