CA allows Trillanes to attend short courses in Singapore, US

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THE Court of Appeals has allowed former senator Antonio Trillanes IV to travel to Singapore and the United States to attend short-term courses that are required by the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines where he is a professor.

In a resolution promulgated on August 26, the appellate court’s Seventh Division granted Trillanes’ request to travel from August 28 to September 22 provided he post a P100,000 cash bond.

Trillanes has sought the CA’s nod to temporarily lift the hold departure order issued against him by Branch 148 of the Makati City Regional Trial Court that convicted him for libel last year over statements he made in 2015 against former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay whom he accused of bribery and corruption.

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In asking that he be allowed to travel, Trillanes, who is a professor at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government and the University of the Philippines-College of Public Administration and Governance, said he is required to attend continuing professional education and to keep himself abreast with the latest developments in governance.

He said he has enrolled and is scheduled to attend a course entitled “Mastering Policy Impact Evaluation and Analysis” at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore from August 29 to August 31 and another course entitled “Leadership for the 21st Century” at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from September 11 to September 16.

Trillanes said he will the out of the country until September 22.

The CA said the Office of the Solicitor General as well as Binay’s private counsel did not pose any objection to Trillanes’ request.

It added that in his previous travels abroad, Trillanes had always returned and complied with court orders, adding this showed he “is not a flight risk.”

“We are convinced that accused-appellant is not a flight risk and is, thus, entitled to a temporary lifting of his ban to travel abroad for the period of August 28, 2022 to September 22, 2022,” the CA’ order penned by Associate Justice Michael Ong.

“Moreover, the personal circumstances of accused-appellant, such as his current teaching profession in the Philippines and his standing as a public figure, further strengthen our belief that there is little to no risk that he might abscond to another country to escape the territorial jurisdiction of the courts,” the CA added.

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