Roque on AFP chief’s confirmation Trillanes applied for amnesty: Don’t expect me to side with non-lawyer Galvez

October 2, 2018

Malacanang insisted on Tuesday the best evidence to prove that opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV did apply for amnesty is a copy of his form he submitted to the military's amnesty committee secretariat.

This was despite the confirmation of Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Carlito Galvez that Trillanes applied for an amnesty, but his documents were not in the AFP's repository because of some lapses.

"I do not know about that, I’m talking as a lawyer, best evidence rule," said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, a lawyer.

"He applied for amnesty? Well, there’s visual that he applied for amnesty, but the question is: where is the form? It all boils down to ‘where is the form’ and the form is all important because the form contains the admission of guilt, which is a sine qua non requirement for grant of amnesty," he said.

"And besides, that’s in the courts and one court has said that the pictures and everything else that Senator Trillanes adduced are not enough and of course, I concur as a lawyer. Certainly, you don’t expect me to take the side of Chief  (of Staff) Galvez who was not a lawyer over the words of a learned judge," Roque added.

A Makati court has granted the motion filed by the Department of Justice to arrest Trillanes after President Rodrigo Duterte issued a proclamation voiding the senator's amnesty that was granted by former President Benigno Aquino III.

Trillanes is a staunch critic of the President. Celerina Monte/DMS