Gazmin recognizes Trillanes’ application for amnesty

In this file photo, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV after giving his oath of allegiance in the presence of Department of National Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin at the latter’s office in DND, Camp Aguinaldo.
INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO BY LYN RILLON

Documents from the Department of National Defense (DND) signed by then Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin show that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and other former junior officers involved in failed military uprisings filed for application for amnesty in 2011.

“On 04, 05, 06 and 07 January 2011, a total of 38 officers and 53 enlisted personnel have filed their applications for amnesty at the Office of the Committee Secretariat of the DND Ad Hoc Amnesty Committee. Within the 15-day reglementary period, the Committee received no opposition to said amnesty applications,” Gazmin wrote to Pres. Benigno Aquino III in a letter dated Jan. 25, 2011.

“After a careful review and deliberation, the Committee found their applications to be in order and the applicants qualified for amnesty,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte has voided the amnesty given to Trillanes, one of his fiercest critics, for his alleged failure to file an application for amnesty and failure to express admission of guilt. The senator was absolved for his involvement in two failed mutinies in 2003 and 2007 to protest the alleged corruption during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo.

The President revoked the senator’s amnesty granted by former Pres. Benigno Aquino III through Proclamation 572 signed on Aug. 31.

READ: Aquino confirms amnesty to Trillanes, questions Duterte order

Part of the proclamation cited a military certification saying that there was “no available copy” of the senator’s amnesty application from the records of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, J1.

Trillanes presented the DND documents on Thursday before the Senate media.

“Hence, on 20, 21 and 24 January 2011 respectively, I have approved the recommendations of the DND Ad Hoc Amnesty Committee and thereby granted amnesty to aforesaid officers and enlisted personnel through Committee Resolution No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 duly signed,” Gazmin wrote.

Trillanes also presented to the media the DND Ad Hoc Committee Resolution No. 2.

“Whereas on Jan. 5, 2011, the following individuals filed their applications for Amnesty, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation Nr. 75 dated Nov. 24, 2010 in connection with their involvement and/or participation in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, 2006 Philippine Marines stand off and the 2007 Peninsula Manila Hotel siege, as indicated opposite their names,” the document read.

The officers on the list, which included Trillanes, were referred to as “Ex” which meant they were already separated from service.

“The opening ‘Whereas’ clause is a statement of a finding of fact and a matter of public record that is conclusive on the government. As the entity responsible for making and keeping that public record, it cannot reverse itself 8 years later and then shift the burden of proving the existence of that record to the applicant,” lawyer Jay Batongbacal told INQUIRER.net.

He stressed that it was the government’s responsibility and not the applicant’s to keep the record intact.

“To disavow that express finding, merely on the basis of not having a copy of the application, is to disregard the integrity of the process, the institution, and the signatories that discharged the function,” he added.

He said those responsible who lost, misrepresented, or concealed the documents could be liable for the crime of infidelity in the custody of public records and other administrative offenses.

The DND said Trillanes’ application for amnesty remained missing but they continue to look for the documents. /jpv

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