Police now monitors Trillanes’s whereabouts — Eleazar

FILE: Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo Eleazar on Saturday, December 8, said the police force already has its eyes on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s whereabouts.

In an interview with Super Radyo dzBB, Eleazar said they are still waiting for a copy of Trillanes’s arrest order issued by a Davao City court.

“Ang pinakamagandang gawin natin is monitor his whereabouts so that ‘pag magkaroon na tayo ng hawak na warrant, we can inform him na meron tayong ganoon (The best thing we can do is to monitor his whereabouts so that once we have a warrant of arrest, we can inform him that we already have it),” Eleazar told Super Radyo dzBB.

“Saturday naman ngayon, so wala naman magiging problema kung ito man ay [matatanggap] sa susunod na araw. Bukas, hanggang sa Monday makakakuha kami ng kopya (It is Saturday today, so there is no problem if we receive an arrest warrant on the next day. Tomorrow until Monday we can receive a copy of it),” he added.

On Friday, Trillanes was ordered arrested by the Davao City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 54 for his libel cases filed by former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

Since libel is a bailable case, Judge Melinda Alconcel Dayanghirang set the lawmaker’s bail bond at P24,000, which Trillanes, he said, will pay on Monday, December 10.

Trillanes, also on Friday, was informed by his legal counsels that service of warrant of arrest for “minor cases,” including libel, is prohibited on Fridays, weekends, and holidays as per an existing circular of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

[READ: Following arrest order, Trillanes slams justice under Duterte admin]

He also learned that as a senator, he is privileged from being arrested in cases punishable by less than six years of imprisonment while Congress is in session.

Trillanes had said that he will coordinate with Eleazar and turn himself in voluntarily, a move the NCRPO head acknowledged.

“Ang maganda naman po niyan ay nagpahayag din siya at nakarating sa atin na siya po ay kusang loob din naman na magsu-surrender or magvo-voluntarily undergo ng process para siya ay humarap sa korte at mag-post ng bail just like what he has done nung magkaroon ng warrant of arrest doon sa kudeta [sic] na hinarap niya noong isang buwan (What is good here is that he announced that he will voluntarily surrender himself or voluntarily undergo the process for him to face the court and post bail just like what he has done when there was warrant of arrest issued for the rebellion case he was facing in the past months),” Eleazar said.

Therefore, Eleazar added that he does not have to tighten the security in the upper chamber.

It was last September when the Presidential son filed the complaint against Trillanes, after the latter accused him and his brother-in-law Manases Carpio of extorting money from car-hailing companies.

However, Trillanes denied this, saying that the case filed by the former Davao City vice mayor was only meant to “harass” him.