DOJ ‘very happy’ with Trillanes’ defeat at SC

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is “very happy” that the Supreme Court has denied the request of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to stop the implementation of Proclamation No. 572 revoking the amnesty given to him in 2010 by then-President Benigno Aquino III.

“The DOJ is very happy to know that the Supreme Court has denied Senator Trillanes’ application for a restraining order,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“There is really no extreme urgency to speak of, as the trial courts have set the DOJ’s motions for alias warrant of arrest and HDO [Hold Departure Order] for hearing, thereby giving Senator Trillanes an opportunity to be heard,” he added.

Guevarra is one of the named respondents in the petition that Trillanes filed before the Supreme Court to nullify Proclamation No. 572.

Guevarra said the high court’s ruling also showed that it acknowledged the trial court’s jurisdiction over the two cases despite the dismissal it issued in 2011 following the grant of amnesty.

The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 handled the coup d’etat case arising from the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, while the Makati RTC Branch 150 handled the rebellion case stemming from the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege.

In separate urgent motions filed before those two courts, the DOJ argued that, given the revocation of amnesty, an alias warrant of arrest and HDO should be issued.

The DOJ argued that Makati RTC Branch 148 merely suspended promulgation of a decision in 2010, while in Makati RTC Branch 150, it would have been the prosecution’s turn to present evidence for the trial if it had not been cut short because of the amnesty.

The courts set a hearing for Sept. 13 and 14, respectively. /atm/ac