Court defers arrest warrant vs Trillanes

The court said it will resolve the DOJ motion following the submission of a rejoinder from Trillanes

THE Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 has deferred the resolution on the motion filed by the Department of Justice that seeks the issuance of an alias warrant of arrest and a hold departure order against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

The court gave Trillanes 10 days to submit a supplemental comment and a rejoinder to the pleading filed against him by the DOJ, in compliance with Proclamation 572.

The Makati RTC Branch 150 also earlier deferred the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the senator, a former Navy officer involved in two uprisings against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Trillanes was among the nearly 40 officers and men involved in the uprisings who were granted amnesty through Proclamation 75 during the Benigno Aquino III administration.

Proclamation 572, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 31, voided the amnesty, ordered his arrest and directed the Department of Justice and the Armed

Forces of the Philippines Court Martial to pursue the criminal and administrative charges against the senator.

The Makati RTC Branches 148 and 150 were the courts that tried the coup d’etat and rebellion cases, respectively, against Trillanes in relation to the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the siege at The Peninsula hotel in Makati City in 2007.

On Tuesday, the SC denied Trillanes’ petition for a temporary restraining order. It held that the Makati RTC should be given the leeway in exercising its jurisdiction to hear the pleadings filed by the DOJ.

The court said it will resolve the DOJ motion following the submission of a rejoinder from Trillanes.

The senator has been holed up in his office in the Senate since September 4, when Proclamation 572 was made public, to avoid arrest.

President Duterte, however, has said he will wait for and respect the court decision on the request for a warrant against the senator. (SunStar Philippines)