If a warrant of arrest is issued against him, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will go with the arresting officers.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III disclosed this on Wednesday, quoting Trillanes himself.
“Sen. Trillanes has confided to us that if a warrant is issued, he will go with the arresting officers,” Sotto said in a text message.
Senators held a caucus on Tuesday and agreed with Sotto’s decision not to allow Trillanes’ arrest within the premises of the Senate.
Trillanes’ impending arrest was due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to revoke the amnesty granted to him by then President Benigno Aquino III.
Sotto clarified that they were not preventing the arrest.
“Technically, we are not preventing his arrest, we are merely following the Senate tradition of not allowing the arrest of a senator in our premises,” he explained.
During the caucus, Sotto said they were unanimous that the dignity of the Senate must be preserved by not allowing the arrest within its premises.
“No arrests in the Senate premises unless the senator turns himself in. Outside is no longer our concern,” he said in another text message Tuesday.
Even Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, in a text message Tuesday, agreed the Senate could not prevent Trillanes’ arrest if a warrant is issued against him. /cbb