Davao court issues arrest warrant vs Trillanes

DAVAO CITY — The Regional Trial Court (RTC) here has issued an arrest warrant against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for the libel cases that former Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law, lawyer Manases Carpio, had earlier filed against him.

RTC Branch 54 Presiding Judge Melinda Alconcel-Dayanghirang issued the warrant on Friday, December 7.

Trillanes has 10 days to present himself in court.

The court said libel is bailable for P24,000.

The case stemmed from the cases that the former Davao vice mayor earlier filed against the senator for dragging his name in the reported P6.4 billion worth of shabu (crystal meth) from China that slipped off the Bureau of Customs in May last year.

Trillanes also faced an earlier libel case filed separately by Duterte and Carpio against him for accusing them in a radio interview in Cebu of extorting money from the ride-hailing company Uber and for being involved in corruption.