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Makati RTC Branch 150 defers arrest warrant, HDO vs. Trillanes
FILE: Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)
The Makati City Regional (RTC) Branch 150 on Friday, September 14, gave Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV a breather as it deferred the motion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) against him.
In a court order signed by Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda, DOJ prosecutors were given five days to submit a reply to Trillanes’s opposition to their motion which seeks the issuance of an arrest warrant and a hold departure order (HDO) against the senator.
Likewise, the court gave Trillanes, a former Navy officer, five days to file a rejoinder to the DOJ’s reply.
On Thursday, the Makati RTC Branch 148, through Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano, also deferred ruling on the same petition, giving Trillanes 10 days to provide supplemental comments and a rejoinder to the Justice Department’s motion.
The DOJ was also ordered to reply within five days of receipt of these comments.
The Makati RTC Branch 148 handled the coup d’etat case against Trillanes over the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, while the Makati RTC Branch 150 handled the rebellion case of the former mutineer over the 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege.
The Supreme Court (SC) earlier denied Trillanes’s petition for a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order (TRO) against President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572, the directive that nullified the amnesty granted to the senator by the past administration.
In junking this request, the High Court said the issues as to whether or not Trillanes filed his application for amnesty and admitted his guilt for his involvement in the uprisings during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were factual concerns that can only be resolved by a trial court, or in certain cases, the Court of Appeals.
Hence, the SC found that it is ‘appropriate’ for the two Makati RTCs to be given “leeway in exercising their concurrent jurisdiction to hear and resolve the pleadings/motions filed by the parties as regards the legality of Proclamation No. 572.”
Trillanes, on Thursday, expressed confidence that the courts “will correct this executive overreach and adhere to the rule of law despite Duterte’s twisting of laws just to achieve his aim of silencing his critics.”
