First word
THIS is where our Antonio Trillanes 4th vexation started: President Benigno Aquino 3rd could not wait for a court, civil or military, to render a verdict on Trillanes’ acts of rebellion and mutiny against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. On October 12, 2010, Aquino issued a proclamation granting amnesty to Trillanes and his fellow mutineers.
THIS is where our Antonio Trillanes 4th vexation started: President Benigno Aquino 3rd could not wait for a court, civil or military, to render a verdict on Trillanes’ acts of rebellion and mutiny against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. On October 12, 2010, Aquino issued a proclamation granting amnesty to Trillanes and his fellow mutineers.
In hindsight, Aquino’s decision to grant amnesty to Trillanes and his co-conspirators in the three incidents was mistaken on three major counts:
1. It was totally misguided in not weighing the gravity of the offenses and waving away any punishment;
2. It was completely partisan and motivated by Aquino’s obsession to shame President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by suggesting that Trillanes’ acts against her government were completely justified; and
3. It was a travesty of Philippine laws to grant a blanket dismissal of the offenses without regard to the injury that they inflicted on the Philippine state and the Filipino people.
The amnesty, if it is proved to be genuine and legal, will obliterate the crimes. It will be as if they never happened. Or no one was offended or harmed. In the words of one observer, an amnesty casts the wrongdoing into “oblivion.”
Difference between amnesty and pardon
Amnesty and pardon are powers bestowed on the supreme authority of a nation to give forgiveness to individuals or group of individuals who have been found guilty of some act.
Amnesty and pardon are powers bestowed on the supreme authority of a nation to give forgiveness to individuals or group of individuals who have been found guilty of some act.
When looking at the two, amnesty is absolution and forgetfulness of an offense whereas a pardon is termed as pity and forgiveness.
While a pardon is given only to individuals, amnesty is given to a group of individuals. A pardon is only given after a judgment has been pronounced whereas amnesty is given even before the final judgment.
In our laws, amnesty is described as an act of the sovereign power granting oblivion or general pardon for a past offense, and is rarely, if ever, exercised in favor of a single individual, and is usually extended in behalf of certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted.
Pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime he has committed. Pardon must be given after final judgment, otherwise, there will be violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.
Duterte voids Aquino proclamation
With Proclamation 982, signed on August 31, 2018, before his departure for Israel and Jordan, President Duterte declares and proclaims:
With Proclamation 982, signed on August 31, 2018, before his departure for Israel and Jordan, President Duterte declares and proclaims:
1. The grant of amnesty to former Ltsg Antonio Trillanes IV under Proclamation No. 75 is declared void ab initio because he did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation.
2. The Department of Justice and court martial of the Armed forces of the Philippines are ordered to pursue all criminal and administrative cases filed against Trillanes in relation to the Oakwood mutiny and the Manila Peninsula Hotel incident.
3. The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are ordered to employ all lawful means to apprehend Trillanes so that he can be recommitted to the detention facility where he had been incarcerated for him to stand trial for the crimes he is charged with.
Wink-wink amnesty
I can now understand why Trillanes felt perfectly at liberty to mount mayhem and division in our society, immediately after he got the amnesty. He believed that his record was totally wiped clean, and that his acts against the Arroyo administration had been justified by the authorities.
I can now understand why Trillanes felt perfectly at liberty to mount mayhem and division in our society, immediately after he got the amnesty. He believed that his record was totally wiped clean, and that his acts against the Arroyo administration had been justified by the authorities.
The amnesty from Aquino is best described as a ”wink- wink amnesty,” because it treated the acts of rebellion without seriousness.
With the Aquino government officials in the defense and justice departments, Trillanes was able to circumvent the law, and escape trial for his crimes.
Duterte’s Proclamation 952 has turned Aquino’s proclamation on its head. He has expressed the position that the trials must continue in the national interest until the courts can reach a verdict.
Can President Duterte revoke the Aquino amnesty for Trillanes? Yes, he can.
In a situation close to war, where members of the military take up arms against the Philippine Republic, the ultimate authority is the president and commander in chief.
The Justice department must make the case for the revocation of the amnesty. No amount of opposition statements can change the rightness of this presidential action.
The argument of Trillanes that Aquino’s amnesty proclamation impelled the dismissal of his cases is questionable. Likewise, his argument that the Makati court’s dismissal of the cases is proof that he complied with the amnesty requirements is nonsense. Let’s see his lawyers raise these arguments in court, or in the Supreme Court, if necessary.
It was Trillanes and his fellow mutineers and co-conspirators who decided to mount the Oakwood mutiny, perpetrate the Marine standoff, and lay siege to the Manila Peninsula Hotel. What choice does this country really have other than to carry the fight to them?
It is fitting and sound that the trial and court martial of Trillanes should continue until the bitter end. It is right that this mutineer and coup plotter should be stopped from strutting in public.
The people will understand the imperative for this.
yenmakabenta@yahoo.com
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