Court to decide on AFP chief’s statement on Trillanes amnesty

In the same hearing, Galvez said there could be some lapses committed in the handling of documents. (Photo: PTV/Joy Gumatay/Facebook)

MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday said that it will just defer to the discretion of the court on how it will appreciate the statement of AFP chief-of-staff, Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s amnesty application.

“The (Chief-of-Staff, AFP) CSAFP’s statement made during the Senate Hearing (on the Department of National Defense’s budget hearing Tuesday) is but a declaration that Sen. Trillanes IV applied for amnesty. It’s akin to the affidavit executed by Col. Josefa Berbigal attesting that Sen. Trillanes IV applied for amnesty,” AFP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, said in message to reporters Wednesday.

He added that the AFP will no longer comment on the issue.

“However, we defer to the wise discretion of the court to where the case has been submitted as to how it will appreciate that statement. And since that may bear on the merits of the case, we will not issue further statement with due regard to the sub judice rule,” Arevalo said.

In the same hearing, Galvez said there could be some lapses committed in the handling of documents.

“Si Col. Josefa Berbigal is the one who administered your (Trillanes) oath. Apparently, there are some lapses, na lahat ng (that all of the) documents hindi naibaba sa (not forwarded to) J-1, which is basically the repository of all documents,” the AFP chief said during the Senate’s budget hearing for the Department of National Defense on Tuesday.