The Department of National Defense (DND) should account for the missing amnesty application form of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, his counsel, Atty. Reynaldo Robles said on Friday.
Robles represented Trillanes before the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 hearing for the urgent motion filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking the issuance of an arrest warrant and a hold departure order against the senator.
During the hearing, Robles admitted that the Senator could not find his copy of the application form.
However, they submitted secondary evidence to support their position that Trillanes has complied with the requirements to qualify for an amnesty.
READ: Trillanes could not find copy of his amnesty application form — lawyer
Robles noted during the hearing that the certification issued by Lieutenant Colonel Thea Joan N. Andrade, chief of the Discipline, Law and Order Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not sufficient to assume that Trillanes did not file an application for amnesty.
The lawyer pointed out that the burden is upon the government to prove that there was no application form filed because the certification of Andrade is not sufficient.
“Col. Andrade’s certification did not also state that Senator Trillanes did not file an application form but only mentioned that there is no available copy of his application for amnesty in the records,” Robles said.
“Kung ang nakawala ay DND [Department of National Defense] at meron pang suspetya kung sino nakawala dahil sinasabi ng Secretary of Defense kinuha daw ng SolGen [Solicitor General Jose Calida],” Robles said.
[If the DND lost it (the amnesty application form of Trillanes) and there is suspicion on how it was lost since the Secretary of Defense said that the Solicitor General took it.]
“Parang winala talaga diba? Dapat sila ang managot infidelity in the custody of official documents,” Robles added.
[It appeared that it was deliberately misplaced. They should be held accountable for infidelity in the custody of official documents.]
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said it was Calida who did the “research” on Trillanes’ amnesty. Lorenzana said Calida called him in August asking about the senator’s amnesty records.
The Defense chief said he asked the Judge Advocate General Service (JAGS) to assist Calida.
READ: Lorenzana not consulted by Duterte on amnesty nullification
It was not clear if the Office of the Solicitor General had acquired the amnesty records.
Calida, for his part, denied having a hand on the revocation of Trillanes’ amnesty.
“I only heard it on the news,” the Solicitor General told reporters during the oral argument at the Supreme Court. /vvp