(Eagle News) — Senator Ralph Recto on Wednesday, Sept. 5, took to the defense of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV after the amnesty granted to him was revoked by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Kung nawala papeles niya, bakit niya problema yun?” Recto asked.
Proclamation 572 cited a certification from the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ J1 that said Trillanes’ application was “not available” in revoking the amnesty granted by then-President Benigno Aquino III to him.
The proclamation also noted that Trillanes did not expressly admit his faults in the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, and the Peninsula Manila siege in 2007.
Trillanes’ camp refuted this, but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra maintained there should be an express admission of guilt in the crime of coup d’etat and not just the crime of mere uprising, as their elements could be distinct from each other.
“Hindi naman bibigyan ng amnesty yan kung hindi (dapat),” Recto said.