Military leaves it up to court to weigh on Galvez remarks

October 3, 2018

The military said Wednesday it is up to the court on how it will treat the statement of Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr  that opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV applied for amnesty.

"It’s akin to the affidavit executed by Col Josefa Berbigal attesting that Sen. Trillanes IV applied  for amnesty," said AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo.

Arevalo declined comment on Galvez's statement because of sub judice. "We defer to the wise discretion of the court to where the case has been submitted as to how it will appreciate that statement," said Arevalo.

Berbigal was the former head of the amnesty secretariat where Trillanes filed his application for amnesty in January 2011.

Trillanes' application for amnesty was approved by then Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

President Rodrigo Duterte, in a proclamation on August 31,  voided the amnesty by the previous administration to Trillanes because his application cannot be found and the senator did not admit his guilt in the two coups de etat he was involved in.

Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant, was one of the leaders of the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the failed 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. DMS