DUTERTE FAILS TO HAVE CRITIC ARRESTED

A Philippine court on Monday rejected a petition by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration to have his fiercest critic in the Senate arrested, in a legal setback for Duterte.

Regional Trial Court Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano denied the gov- ernment’s petition to have opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV arrested after Duterte voided his 2011 amnesty for his role in past mutinies as a former navy officer. Soriano debunked Duterte’s premise that Trillanes never formally applied for amnesty and acknowledged guilt for his role in the failed coup attempts.

“The rule of law won and democracy won,” a beaming Trillanes told a news conference at the Senate, adding that he was prepared to be arrested. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, however, suggested the government would appeal and added that Soriano did not declare Duterte’s signed order that voided Trillanes’ amnesty unconstitutional.