Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that it was the Solicitor General (SolGen) who asked for Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV’s amnesty documents.
In a televised press conference on Monday, September 10, Lorenzana told the reporters that SolGen Jose Calida called him.
“He (Calida) asked me; he asked me personally by phone to get the amnesty records niya (of Trillanes) sa (from the) Department of [National] Defense and sa (from the) AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), so I provided him,” the DND secretary said, adding that from memory this was on August 16.
However, Lorenzana said that he has no idea on what purpose the SolGen asked for the documents because “SolGen siya eh (He is the SolGen).”
The Defense Secretary deemed that as the top lawyer of the administration, Lorenzana did not need to know the purpose.
“Sa akin lang, if may hindi sumunod sa process it should be rectified (For me, if the process was not followed, it should be rectified),” he added.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte earlier claimed that it was the SolGen who “researched” Trillanes’s case.
“‘Yung kay Trillanes, alam mo, ang totoo niyan ang nag-research si Calida. Just like kay [Maria Lourdes] 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.
[READ: Duterte says Calida initiated review of Trillanes amnesty]
The President voided the rebel-turned-senator’s amnesty through Proclamation No. 572 which says that he supposedly did not admit guilt for being involved in coup attempts in previous administrations and that he did not submit an application for amnesty.
Trillanes also claimed that Calida was pulling the strings behind this.
“Itong si Mr. Calida gumawa nito eh. At siyempre gustong-gusto nitong amo niyang si Duterte (It is really Mr. Calida who did this. And of course, his boss, Duterte really likes this),” Trillanes said.