NCRPO chief secures copy of Davao court’s arrest warrant vs Trillanes

MANILA, Philippines — National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Director Guillermo Eleazar confirmed that they already have a copy of the arrest warrant issued by a Davao court against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net on Sunday, Eleazar said that they requested for a copy of the arrest order from the Davao City Police Station.

“Yung warrant naman kasi sa Davao court nag-originate ‘yun, and copy furnished dun yung Davao City Police Station, kami naman siyempre, nagpakuha ng kopya sa Davao City Police Station, kumuha kami ng kopya through our own initiative para may hawak din kami,” he said.

He added that they asked for the copy in case he will be tasked to facilitate the arrest.

“Ina-anticipate natin, kung I’ll be tasked to arrest dapat may pinanghahawakan kami. Pero, we were not directly (tasked to arrest) kasi yung warrant of arrest naman to any peace officer yun, pero yung copy kasi nun, binibigay usually dun sa may jurisdiction. Like, sa Davao inissue, so Davao City Police Station (ang may jurisdiction),” he said.

The NCRPO chief said that they secured the copy on Saturday.

Earlier, the Davao Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 54 issued an arrest warrant against the senator for his libel cases filed by former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law lawyer Manases Carpio.

READ: Davao court issues arrest warrant vs Trillanes

Eleazar, meanwhile, noted that Trillanes has privilege over arrest as provided in article 6 section 11 of the constitution which states that the senator cannot be arrested while the Congress is in session given that he was only charged with a light offense.

“A member of the Senate or the House of Representative shall in all offenses punishable by not more than six years, they have privilege from arrest while the congress is in session,” he cited the said provision.

While the senator has the said privilege, Eleazar pointed out that Trillanes is still willing to be processed and post bail.

READ: Trillanes hits gov’t’s ‘inverted’ justice; to post bail on Monday

“The senator, naglabas ng statement, bukas (Monday, Dec. 10) magpo-process siya nung kanyang ng pagpopost ng bail, and we are coordinating with the senate leadership through sergeant-at-arms na bukas nga ipa-facilitate yun,” Eleazar said.

“Senator Trillanes, alam niya yung kanyang situation, alam niya na [may] privilege din siya na hindi arestuhin, dahil nga it (libel) is considered as light offense. Pero ang maganda dun he is willing to let himself be processed tomorrow,” he added. /je