Cast against different factual backdrops from the opposing sides, the facts can be briefly stated as follows:
Trillanes, was charged with coup d Etat before the military tribunal and before the Makati RTC Branch 148. In 2011, Trillanes manifested to be given amnesty and the Benigno Aquino administration was willing to give it. The Military Tribunal and the Makati RTC, through a motion from the Trillanes camp, suspended both proceedings on the ground the amnesty of Trillanes had been in progress. Eventually, an amnesty had been issued to Trillanes under Proclamation No. 75 issued by former Pres. Benigno Aquino III. On August 30, 2018, PRRD declared the amnesty given to Trillanes as null and void and without any effect for his failure to file a formal/written application; and his failure to formally admit his guilt to the coup d etat.
(1) The invalidation of the Trillanes amnesty automatically reverted him back to his former status before the granting of the amnesty. This means, he was a prisoner for the non-bailable crime of coup d Etat and his cases before the Military Tribunal and with the Makati RTC which were suspended, not dismissed as the side of Trillanes camp intimated, can be resumed from where they left off.
(2) Former Pres. Benigno Aquino III has a history of making hasty and abnormal decisions in Dengvaxia, DAP and PDAF, MAMASAPANO, the appointment of Sereno as CJ of the Supreme Court, and many more where he is, in fact, facing charges at present. It is not farfetched therefore, he just made another hasty and abnormal decision to forego everything in the granting of amnesty to Trillanes by way of political accommodation. As the legal doctrine states: 'Where a person is charged with the commission of a specific crime, testimony may be received of other similar acts committed about the same time, for the purpose only of establishing the criminal intent of the accused.”
(3) Contrary to the arguments of the Trillanes camp, the cases of Trillanes were only suspended. But even if it was indeed dismissed, upon the invalidation of the amnesty, he can be immediately arrested because his status as a prisoner for a non-bailable case was automatically restored.
(4) The crime of Trillanes was against the security of the State and he again misled the government through deception and fraud in connivance with the former president with a common bestial and ignoble purpose by bypassing the essential requirements. He should, therefore, be arrested immediately anywhere at sight; and no warrant of arrest that is issued by a court is required. The Proclamation 572 issued by PDU30 is the warrant for his arrest under the Articles of War. Those who were seen to be dangerous to our society cannot be left walking about as “big men” with their sycophants. Let’s borrow a leaf from decent societies and follow the law and stop running from pillar to post.
(5) The stand of the Senators to stop the arrest of Trillanes within the vicinity of the Senate has no legal basis. Their reason is just based on tradition and dignity. What is more primordial is the safety and security of the State and its inhabitants. As no less than TEEHANKEE, J., concurring in the case of EASTERN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (DYRE) vs. THE HON. JOSE P. DANS, JR., ET AL., G.R. No. L-59329, July 19, 1985. “At the foundation of our civil liberty lies the principle, which denies to government officials the exceptional position before the law and which subjects them to the same rules of conduct that commands to the citizen xxx xxx.
(6) "A void amnesty for want of the essential requirements is no amnesty at all. It cannot be the source of any right nor the creator of any obligation. All acts performed pursuant to it and all claims emanating from it have no legal effect. It may be said to be a lawless thing which can be treated as an outlaw and slain at sight, or ignored wherever and whenever it exhibits its head."
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