SOLICITOR General Jose Calida will "very soon" challenge before the Court of Appeals (CA) the refusal of Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 to issue an arrest warrant against opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, MalacaƱang said on Tuesday, October 23.
Instead of filing a motion for reconsideration before the Makati court, Calida would submit a petition before the appellate court, questioning the decision, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
"I've talked with the SolGen and he said he will not file a motion for reconsideration but will go immediately to appeal the ruling of the court, with respect to the non-issuance of the warrant of arrest," Panelo told a press conference Tuesday.
"So we will file in the Court of Appeals. The SolGen is already preparing the petition to be filed," he added.
The Makati RTC Branch 148, which tried and dismissed Trillanes's coup d' etat case in relation to the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, declined the motion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a warrant of arrest and hold departure order against Trillanes.
"Given its findings, both on the legality of Proclamation No. 572 and its factual bases, the Court finds no reason to disturb the doctrine of immutability of a final and executory judgment," the Makati RTC Branch 148 said.
The court, however, upheld the validity of President Rodrigo Duterte's Proclamation 572, which declared Trillanes's amnesty as void from the beginning because of supposed failure to submit an official amnesty application and admit guilt.
Panelo said the ruling was a "pyrrhic victory" for Trillanes, stressing that the Makati court made an "erroneous" decision when it declined to order the arrest of the opposition lawmaker.
"It's more of a pyrrhic victory because if you will notice, the court decided that the proclamation issued by the President is valid. They are claiming the time that the President does not have the power to void any amnesty. And the court said he has," the Palace official said.
"Now, I have gone over the decision. There are procedural matters decided by the court, which to my mind are erroneous -- how it accepted evidence despite the fact that they were all secondary evidence," he added.
Insisting that Duterte's revocation of Trillanes's amnesty was "not in violation of the Constitution," Panelo said the administration would "consistently" make a stand that the Chief Executive has the power to nullify any amnesty granted to anyone.
"What is important to my mind right now is that our theory from the very start is that the President can void an amnesty granted to anyone and that was upheld by the court," he said.
"That is purely executive act. It does not violate the equal protection of the law clause of the Constitution. It is not a bill of attainder. It does not encroach on the function of the co-equal branch of government. It does not require the concurrence of Congress," he added. (SunStar Philippines)