Lessons to learn from the Trillanes case
When finally Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Elmo Alameda decided to have Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV arrested on charges of rebellion, all I can say is that finally the long arm of the law has reached Sen. Trillanes who used his popularity for his selfish political purposes. So when the media asked him for a statement, Sen. Trillanes said “Today, democracy died!” Did Sen. Trillanes really say this? How could democracy die when in fairness to the Duterte administration they took more than three weeks to have Sen. Trillanes arrested for his failure to comply with the amnesty regulations?
In short, this is one time that the Duterte administration made sure that if they legally get Sen. Trillanes, it is not going to be easy for him to get scot free the way he was used by the political opposition. The problem with Sen. Trillanes is he is nothing but a loud mouth saying things that he cannot even explain. If you talk about democracy being killed, it was when the presidential elections were cheated by Smartmatic, a foreign election supplier whose track record is so doubtful in the 2010 and 2013 polls.
Most important of all, Trillanes failed to take cognizance of the reality that Judge Elmo Alameda allowed him a P200,000 bail. In truth, the damage that his ill-fated coup caused was in the millions. He is lucky that his bail was super cheap! Of course, it goes without saying that the Court is still in the process of analyzing his misdemeanor, which might end up getting into jail without any bail.
Judge Elmo Alameda said there was “factual and legal basis” for President Duterte’s order to detain the rebel officer turned politician under Proclamation No. 572. This is the Presidential directive that revoked the amnesty granted to Sen. Trillanes. Hence the Court ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to “apprehend” the opposition senator and recommit him to the detention facility.
The Court also directed the DOJ and the AFP court-martial “to pursue all criminal and administrative cases” filed against Trillanes in relation to the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and Manila Peninsula siege in 2007. Sen. Trillanes was granted amnesty by then president Benigno Aquino III on Nov. 24, 2010 through Proclamation No. 75 along with his fellow rebel officers of the Magdalo group over the 2007 rebellion. If you ask me, Pres. Aquino should not have gotten himself involved in freeing those mutineers!
At this point, there should be lessons learned from this incident. First, that the issue of amnesty should never be taken lightly. Somehow, Sen. Trillanes did not even keep a copy of his amnesty for safekeeping. Second, his amnesty was not signed by then pres. Benigno Aquino but by his defense secretary. An amnesty is not a delegated presidential power.
However in my book, the flaw in the Amnesty lies upon the 1987 Constitution, which is why I am for revising the 1987 Cory Constitution. For me, mutineers or coup plotters should never be allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to seek elective power. This is where political parties used the name of Trillanes because it was easy for the electorate to recall his name. But at the end of the day, the mutineer became a supposedly respected member of the Philippine Senate. But in truth, the Senators were soiled when Trillanes was included in the roster of membership.
At this point, I certainly hope that the members of the Philippine Senate ought to look into who should be allowed to run for a senatorial post. Our Senators ought to know that when they took in Trillanes into their roster, the Senate lost its luster and its respectability. Worse, Sen. Trillanes became an attack dog of the Aquino political family and this is why he is
getting the support of the Aquino family.
We will know in the next few days where Trillanes will be going. I mean if the Rebellion charge will stick, then he could be facing a military court martial, something I’m sure he never expected. With October coming very soon, this means that the mid-term elections will soon be upon us. So the million-peso question is… will an incarcerated Trillanes be a rallying point in the local polls? Frankly speaking, I doubt it. Trillanes got himself an elective post that is too high for people to comprehend. No sir, Trillanes will not be an influencing factor in the 2019 mid-term polls.