Duterte says Calida initiated review of Trillanes amnesty

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte disembarks from the plane upon arriving at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan on September 5, 2018. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte disclosed on Saturday, September 8, that it was Solicitor General (SolGen) Jose Calida who conducted the ‘research’ on the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV which eventually led to its revocation.

“‘Yung kay Trillanes, alam mo, ang totoo niyan ang nag-research si Calida. Just like kay Sereno (Regarding Trillanes, you know, the truth is that it was Calida who did the research. Just like with Sereno),” Duterte said in a speech upon his arrival from his official visit to Israel and Jordan.

The President was referring to former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was ousted after the Supreme Court (SC) voted in favor of the quo warranto petition filed by Calida.

“Alam mo si Calida medyo bright na matino. ‘Pag sinabi ng SolGen may mali (You know Calida is kind of bright and upright. When the SolGen says there is something wrong), and this has to be corrected, I cannot refuse. He is the government lawyer,” Duterte said.

“I am a mayor and president, I cannot insist lalo na (especially) in view of the fact that it was already recorded as a public paper. So kung anong sinabi niya doon, eh ‘di ‘yun ang paniwalaan ko. Eh kung ‘di ko pinaniwalaan ‘yan si Calida, tinapon ko na ‘yan sa ewan ko kung saan (whatever he said there., that is what I believed. If I will not believe Calida, I would have thrown him somewhere else),” he added.

Trillanes earlier claimed that the country’s top lawyer was behind the move of the President to revoke the amnesty granted to him by the past administration.

“Itong si Mr. Calida gumawa nito eh. At siyempre gustong-gusto nitong amo niyang si Duterte (Mr. Calida did this. And of course, Duterte really likes it),” Trillanes said.

The senator stressed that the administration was trying to stop the hearing he will conduct against Calida in connection to the controversial multimillion-peso contracts of the latter’s security firm, Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc.

Calida, however, kept mum when he was asked about his participation in the review of the senator’s amnesty.

“I’m invoking my privileged communication between client and counsel because I am the lawyer for the republic,” he said.

On Thursday, Trillanes warned several government officials, including Calida, that he will run after them someday if they continue to push for his ‘bogus’ arrest.

“Talagang mananagot kayo after kasi si Duterte hindi ito tatagal. Itong sina [Justice Secretary Menardo] Guevarra, Calida, kakaripas ‘to ng takbo pagkatapos ni Duterte kasi hindi naman sila sasaluhin niyan. Kasi even si Duterte hahabulin, ang daming krimen nun (You will be held liable after because Duterte will not stay longer in power. Guevarra and Calida will just run away after Duterte’s term because they will not be saved by him. Because even Duterte will be held accountable as he has committed many crimes),” the former Navy officer said.

[READ: Trillanes to run after gov’t officials, lawyers pushing for amnesty revocation]