THE Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the validity of the amnesty granted to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV by then president Benigno Aquino III.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, the Court en banc on Wednesday ruled that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572, which revoked the amnesty, is unconstitutional.
The en banc held that the president cannot revoke the amnesty granted to anyone without the concurrence of the Senate, adding that neither the government nor any of its officials, including the president, are above the law.
“The revocation of Trillanes’ amnesty long after it became final and without prior notice violated his constitutional right to due process,” the SC said in a briefer provided to the media late Wednesday night.
Further, it stressed that Proclamation No. 572, in seeking the revival of the criminal cases against the former senator after they had been dismissed with finality by the Makati Regional Trial Court, “violated his constitutional rights against ex post facto laws and double jeopardy.”
An ex post facto law, which is not allowed under the Constitution, is similar to penalizing a person for an act that may be illegal for a certain time, but was not illegal when the alleged offense was committed.
Meanwhile, the right against double jeopardy ensures that an individual will not be prosecuted twice for the same offense.
The High Court held that contrary to the justification stated in Duterte’s proclamation, there was convincing evidence that Trillanes filed his amnesty application.
“The Executive’s decision to revoke only Trillanes’ amnesty, notwithstanding the fact that the application forms of all the other amnesty grantees could similarly no longer be located, constituted a breach of his right to the equal protection of the laws,” the SC ruled.
It stressed that in balancing the exercise of presidential prerogatives and the protection of the citizens’ rights, the Constitution and the country’s laws serve as its “anchor and rudder.”
To recall, Duterte revoked the amnesty granted to Trillanes in 2010 in connection with his involvement in unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration when he was still a Navy junior officer.
Trillanes was a staunch critic of Duterte during his presidency.
Proclamation No.572 issued by Duterte on August 2018 stated that the amnesty was void from because there was no available copy that Trillanes applied for one.
After issuing the proclamation, Duterte then directed the Department of Justice and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to pursue criminal and administrative cases against Trillanes stemming from his involvement in the 2003 and 2007 Oakwood and Manila Peninsula incidents, respectively.
The Court of Appeals later junked the 2018 order of Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda reviving the rebellion case against Trillanes.
Alameda earlier upheld Duterte’s order revoking Trillanes’ amnesty.
Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano in 2018 also junked a government’s plea to have Trillanes rearrested over the 2003 Oakwood coup case, which was already dismissed by his predecessor, Judge Oscar Pimentel.
Trillanes, in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, thanked the High Court for upholding the legality of the amnesty granted to him.
“Sa kagustuhang patahimikin at ipakulong ang mga miyembro ng oposisyon, sina Duterte, Medialdea, Guevarra, at Calida ay gumawa ng pag-abuso ng kapangyarihan at sukdulang katangahan (In their desire to silence and jail members of the opposition, Duterte, former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, former Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, and former Solicitor General Jose Calida abused their powers and resorted to extreme foolishness),” Trillanes said. — With Raymond Africa
