Palace defends Solgen's involvement in Trillanes amnesty review

S OLICITOR General Jose Calida, as chief le gal counsel of the Duterte government, can participate in the review of amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Malacañang said Thursday, September 6.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said there was no need for Calida to secure the executive department's approval to initiate the search for the amnesty papers of Trillanes, one of the staunch critics of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Calida is [counsel] for the Republic. He inquired as part of his mandate and does not require any sanction from Palace," Roque said in a statement.

Military spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo on Tuesday, September 4, revealed that it was Calida who began the inquiry into the validity of Trillanes's amnesty, which has been revoked by Duterte through Proclamation 572 signed on August 31.

Also on Tuesday, Trillanes believed that Calida had a hand in the revocation of his amnesty, in an attempt to derail the Senate probe into the Solicitor General's multimillionpeso contracts with several government agencies.

Under Duterte's proclamation, the amnesty granted to Trillanes by former Presdient Benigno Aquino III was declared void for alleged failure to comply "with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation."

Proclamation 572 noted that Trillanes failed to file an application for amnesty, as well as to admit guilt over his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and Manila Peninsula Siege in 2007.

Duterte's order, however, did not stop Trillanes on Tuesday from pushing through with the inquiry of his Senate civil service and government reorganization panel into the contracts awarded to Calida-owned security firm with different government agencies.

Calida remained mum about his supposed role in the revocation of Trillanes' amnesty, invoking the privileged communication between a client and a counsel.