Coup case reopening has no legal basis, Trillanes tells Makati court

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday told the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 that the motion seeking his arrest and the issuance of a hold departure order against him has no legal or factual basis and should be dismissed.

In a 15-page comment, the senator, through his counsel lawyer Reynaldo Robles, said jurisprudence dictates that the recipient of amnesty is not only innocent but it will have an effect if no offense is committed.

“The rights to the benefits of amnesty, once established by evidence presented, either by the complainant or prosecution or by the defense cannot be waived because it is of public interest that a person who is regarded by the Amnesty Proclamation, which has the force of law, is not only innocent for he stands in the eyes of the law as if he had never committed any punishable offense…,” read the comment, which qouted a Supreme Court ruling on the Barrioquinto versus Fernandez case.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Makati RTC Branch 148 to issue an arrest order and a hold departure order against Trillanes, following the revocation of the amnesty given to the senator by then President Benigno Aquino III.

READ: DOJ asks Makati court to issue alias warrant, HDO vs Trillanes  

“Needless to state, applying the clear and unmistakable import and implication of the law and prevailing jurisprudence on amnesty, the denial of the prosecution’s ‘Urgent Ex Parte Omnibus Motion’ is clearly in order,” Trillanes stated.

Trillanes added that the case dismissed seven years ago is already final and executory.

“The same could no longer be modified or amended pursuant to the ‘doctrine of finality of judgment’ nor can it be reopened or revisited by and through a mere ex parte motion of the prosecution,” the senator’s comment further read.

He also informed the court that he had filed a petition with the Supreme Court to nullify Proclamation 572 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte that revoked that amnesty granted to him by the previous administration.

The case hearing is set for Sept. 13.

RELATED STORY: Court orders Trillanes to answer DOJ arrest plea