Palace: Gazmin may be liable for Trillanes amnesty

MALACANANG ON Monday said former defense secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin may be held liable for usurpation of authority when he approved the amnesty for Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV in 2011, which he himself recommended to then president Benigno S.C. Aquino III.

Meanwhile, a Makati court on Monday deferred the issuance of a warrant of arrest and holddeparture order (HDO) against the opposition senator, citing due process in his behalf.

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo on Monday said “It’s the President that should grant amnesty” for Mr. Trillanes, adding that “(i)t’s for [the Defense department] only to evaluate .... He (Mr. Gazmin) responded by saying ‘approved, I’ve granted the amnesty’ per his letter to (former) president (Aquino).”

“Siya mismo nag-grant, siya mismo nag-recommend... (It was he who recommended and granted [the amnesty]). So, what’s the crime of Volts? Usurpation of authority,” Mr. Panelo said.

For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in an interview with DZRH that Mr. Gazmin could be sent to jail. “Well, possible po (That is possible),” he said.

In his press briefing at the Palace on Monday afternoon, Mr. Roque said, “The President’s belief as a lawyer is that an amnesty must be personally granted by the President, it cannot be further delegated to other officials. It is a presidential prerogative so the position of the President is that only the President should have signed the order of amnesty.”

Mr. Roque said President Rodrigo R. Duterte has “the means to come up with his own legal conclusions,” adding that “this is an additional ground that he is invoking not included in the grounds cited by Solicitor General (Jose C. Calida).”

On this significance to others who were granted amnesty, Mr. Roque said: “Well, if the President’s theory is correct, then similarly-situated individuals would have similar amnesties which could be declared as being null and void ab initio. But right now, the only one being invoked null and void ab initio is that of Senator Trillanes.”

HEARING SET

For his part, Judge Elmo M. Alameda of Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 said in his order that the court was not convinced with the Very Urgent Ex-Parte Omnibus Motion against Mr. Trillanes as filed by Prosecutor General Richard Anthony D. Fadullon on Sept. 7.

“The Court is not persuaded with the argument of the prosecution that its omnibus motion should not be set for hearing and should be acted by this Court ex-parte,” the decision read. — Arjay L. Balinbin, Camille A. Aguinaldo, and Vann Marlo M. Villegas