Palace: Duterte will wait for issuance of arrest warrant vs Trillanes

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the members of his delegation hold a working lunch meeting with Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein and other Jordanian officials at the Al Husseinieh Palace in Amman on September 6, 2018. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Although it will take a while, President Rodrigo Duterte chose to abide by the rule of law and wait for the civilian court to issue a warrant of arrest against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said this in a press conference in Amman, Jordan on Friday, September 7.

“Matapos po ang mahabang talakayan, nagdesisyon ang Presidente that he will abide with the rule of law. Hihintayin niya po ang desisyon ng Regional Trial Court (RTC) kung sila ay mag-i-issue ng warrant of arrest (After a long discussion, the President decided that he will abide by the rule of law. He will wait for the decision of the Regional Trial Court if they will issue a warrant of arrest),” Roque said.

“He will allow the judicial process to proceed and he will await the issuance of warrant of arrest if there is indeed one to be issued before Senator Trillanes is arrested and apprehended,” he added.

Duterte’s decision, Roque said, came after the President, on Thursday night, had a meeting with several of his Cabinet members who joined with him in his latest foreign trip regarding the revocation of the amnesty granted to Trillanes in 2011 under the administration of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Some members of his Cabinet who were part of the delegation included Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

, among others.

During the press conference, Roque also admitted that he himself think that they should ask the military court to issue a warrant of arrest, but Duterte believed otherwise.

“Ayaw ni Presidente. Gusto niya civilian courts because siya mismo piskal (The President does not want it. He wants the civilian courts because he himself was a prosecutor) so he knows what the procedures will be and he says maski matagal ‘yan (even if it will take a while), let it be because that’s the rule of law,” Roque stressed.

Trillanes on Thursday claimed that his possible arrest could be a gift to the Chief Executive once he returns home after his official visit in Jordan.

Sought for a comment about this, Roque said, “Ewan ko po, eh talaga namang maraming naiisip lately si Trillanes. Dati marami na rin siyang naiisip, mas marami sigurong pantasya ngayon. And as I said talagang mahilig [si Trillanes] sa drama (I do not know, Trillanes has many things in his mind lately. Before, he was already thinking a lot, maybe this time he has even more fantasies going on in his mind.

And as I said, Trillanes really loves drama).”

Apart from Duterte’s order to withdraw his amnesty, Trillanes will also have to face separate complaints filed against him by Duterte’s eldest son and son-in-law, Paolo Duterte and Manases Carpio.

The younger Duterte and Carpio accused Trillanes of libel after the senator earlier claimed in a radio interview with DYAB Cebu in September 2017 that the two conspired with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in extorting car-hailing company Uber and other similar companies.

Reynaldo Robles, legal counsel of Trillanes, in an interview with the ANC believed such move is a part of a “pattern of harassment” against his client.

“The fact that they are filing this now when the incident happened almost a year ago and the fact that they are filing the cases separately shows that it is being done to harass and inconvenience the senator,” Robles said also on Friday.

But despite this, the lawyer said their camp will face the charges thrown against Trillanes.