Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
President Rodrigo Duterte’s revocation of the proclamation granting amnesty to his staunch critic Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was a “clear case of political persecution,” Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said on Tuesday.
“Maliwanag, political persecution ‘yan dahil sa nangyari kay Senator (Leila) de lima, Chief Justice (Maria Lourdes) Sereno. Designed ito na patahimikin ang mga nagsasalita dahil more or less napatahimik na nila ‘yung ordinaryong mamamayan sa kanilang war on drugs. Tinakot na lahat,” Alejano said in an ambush interview.
“In a way, inexpect na rin ito dahil hinahanapan talaga nila ng kaparaanan just like what happened to Chief Justice Sereno, ginamitan ng quo warranto… Umasa pa tayo na kahit papaano kumapit ang administrayong ito sa demokrasya,” he also said.
Duterte signed Proclamation 572 on Aug. 31 to revoke the senator’s amnesty given by former president Benigno Aquino III in 2010 through Proclamation 75.
The Constitution provides that an amnesty proclamation requires the concurrence of both Houses of Congress, and both chambers concurred with Aquino’s proclamation back then.
READ: Duterte revokes Trillanes amnesty, orders his arrest
Alejano insisted that they fulfilled all the requirements when they applied for the amnesty. But now that his colleague in the Magdalo party-list faces the revocation, he said the same could also be done to him.
“Kung nagawa nila sa kanya magagawa rin sa akin. Pero hindi ako nababahala dyan, tatayuan natin ‘yan at hahanapan natin ng legal na kaparaanan,” he said.
Trillanes earlier downplayed Duterte’s move but also expressed readiness to face arrest.
READ: ‘Kalokohan’ – Trillanes on Duterte amnesty revocation
Trillanes led the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 to oppose then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration amid corruption controversies. Alejano was also one of the mutineers.
In 2007, Trillanes participated in the Manila Peninsula siege to call for Arroyo’s ouster. /cbb