There can be no warrant of arrest against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV because all of his pending criminal cases before the regular courts and military tribunals rising from the Oakwood mutiny and other coup attempts had been dismissed after he was granted amnesty on January 31, 2011 under Department of National Defense Ad Hoc Committee Resolution No. 2 (#1).
No less than the Supreme Court in Magdalo vs. Comelec (G.R. No. 190793, June 19, 2012) has sustained and validated the amnesty grant to Magdalo members, including Sen. Trillanes as then LTSG of the Philippine Navy, when it ruled that “in view of the subsequent amnesty granted in favor of members of Magdalo, the events that transpired during the Oakwood incident could no longer be interpreted as acts of violence in the context of the disqualification from party registration.”
Proclamation No. 572 of President Rodrigo Duterte revoking the amnesty grant to Trillanes is not by itself a warrant of arrest because only a competent court can issue an arrest warrant on the basis of a pending criminal case.
The mere report that “there is no available copy of his (Trillanes) application for amnesty in the records” does not show that he did not apply because if he did not apply, he should have not been granted amnesty.
The “missing” application could have been maliciously concealed or deliberately destroyed.
There is a presumption of regularity and compliance with prerequisites and conditions in the grant of amnesty to Trillanes.
Moreover, there are other concrete evidence documenting Trillanes’ application for amnesty like relevant photographs and video coverage.
The revocation of Trillanes’ amnesty grant is unwarranted because an amnesty is final, absolute and irrevocable.
Since under Section 19 of Article VII of the Constitution, a Presidential amnesty proclamation needs the prior concurrence of majority of all Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, then any revocation, if ever allowable, must also have the concurrence of the Congress.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN