Makati RTC Branch 148 denies appeals of DOJ, Trillanes

FILE: Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (Photo by Alex Nuevaespaña via Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 denied the appeals filed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it found “no reason” to reverse its ruling on the solon’s coup d’etat case.

State prosecutors of the DOJ earlier appealed to the Makati RTC Branch 148 to issue an arrest warrant and hold departure order (HDO) against Trillanes for coup d’etat charges over the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny.

Trillanes, on the other hand, asked the court to reverse its decision, declaring President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572, which voided the senator’s amnesty, as valid.

In an order dated November 22 but was only released on Friday, November 23, Judge Andres Soriano of Makati RTC Branch 148 denied the motions filed by both parties as these were “mere rehash of the issues and arguments which have already been exhaustively threshed out, passed upon and discussed in the assailed order.”

“The Court has thoroughly reviewed all the evidence and pleadings presented and submitted by the parties, and it finds no reason to reverse or modify its findings, both factual and legal,” Soriano said in his ruling.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, for his part, said he will “discuss further strategy” with Solicitor General Jose Calida, whom the President said initiated the review of Trillanes’ amnesty.

[READ: Duterte says Calida initiated review of Trillanes amnesty]

“Certainly, this is not the end of the saga. more to unfold,” Guevarra said.

Apart from this, Trillanes also has a pending petition at the Supreme Court (SC), challenging the constitutionality of the issuance of Duterte’s Proclamation.

Contrary to the decision of Soriano, Judge Elmo Alameda of Makati RTC Branch 150, who handles Trillanes’s rebellion case over the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, previously ordered the former mutineer’s arrest and barred him from leaving the country.

Trillanes immediately posted bail on the same day of his arrest.