THE lawyer of detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has asked President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to allow his client to attend regular sessions of the Senate.
Trillanes's counsel, Reynaldo Robles, said Aquino should follow the example of his mother, freeing all political prisoners.
"During the time of her mother, all political prisoners were released and there was no problem with our institutions. Senator Trillanes has not raped or killed anybody, his offense is a political offense," the lawyer said.
Among the famous political prisoners set free by Aquino's mother was Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Jose Maria Sison.
Robles said Aquino should do the same once he assumes office on June 30 and released all political prisoners currently languishing in various jails in the country.
He added that Trillanes is asking is to be given the chance to do his work as a lawmaker and attend the regular sessions.
"My client is not asking that the cases against him be dropped. He just wants to participate in the senate sessions, and if they want to put him in jail after that, he is okay," he pointed out.
A former Navy junior officer, Trillanes is facing coup d' etat charges before a Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) for leading some 300 other junior officers and enlisted men in seizing the Oakwood Hotel Premiere in Makati on July 27, 2003.
He later run and won a seat in the Senate in 2007 while campaigning from his detention cell. But he has not been allowed to participate in any of the Senate sessions because of security risks.
The court has turned down his petition to bail.
In November 29, 2007, he along with former Scout Ranger regiment commander General Danilo Lim led some two dozen Magdalo soldiers as they walked-out of a court hearing and proceeded to the Manila Peninsula Hotel, calling on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.
The Senate has already approved a resolution allowing the detained lawmaker to participate in its sessions through teleconferencing. (AH/Sunnex)