Makati court denies DOJ petition to issue arrest warrant on Trillanes

October 22, 2018

A Makati Regional Trial Court branch on Monday denied the petition of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue an arrest warrant and hold departure order on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

In a 33-page resolution, Judge Andres Soriano of Makati City RTC, Branch 148, said it found "no reason to disturb the doctrine of immutability of a final and executory judgment."

 Acting Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said the court upheld the validity of Proclamation 572, which nullified the amnesty granted by former President Benigno Aquino in 2011.

 Fadullon said he has yet to read the full resolution.

 The coup d’état case was dismissed in 2011 after Trillanes availed of and was granted amnesty under the Aquino administration.

“The law is vibrant. Jurisprudence is its lifeblood. Subsequent jurisprudence may forge new horizons in which exceptions to the immutability of a final and executory judgment may be born," the resolution said.

"For now, the Court finds itself powerless to disturb the said doctrine even if it had sustained the factual bases for the issuance of Proclamation No. 572," it added.

The Makati City court said Trillanes filed an application for amnesty and admitted his guilt for his participation in the Oakwood Mutiny, among others, based on the "unrebutted evidence, both preponderant and admissible secondary" presented by the senator.

Soriano said it found "no basis to believe that Proclamation No. 572 has breached any constitutional guaranty or that it has encroached on the constitutional power of either the judicial or the executive branch."

The legality of Proclamation No. 572 is pending before the Supreme Court.

Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati City RTC, Branch 150 ordered Trillanes’ arrest for rebellion, in connection with the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, but allowed him to post bail in late September. DMS