MANILA - The Department of Justice on Tuesday sought an arrest warrant and a hold departure order against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte, in a proclamation, voided the amnesty granted to Trillanes, who was facing charges for the events during the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003.
In a motion filed before the Makati Regional Trial Court branch 148, the DOJ said Duterte's proclamation means all cases against the senator must be pursued and that he must be arrested.
"Accused Trillanes is an incumbent Senator of the Republic. He has the means and resources to flee to another country in order to escape criminal jurisdiction. It is therefore imperative that a hold departure order be issued," the motion read.
The DOJ also asked the court to consider the motion's urgency.
Trillanes had said he will stay in the custody of the Senate and will not turn himself over to the arresting authorities waiting for him.
LEGAL BATTLE
Acting Prosecutor General Rirchard Fadullon said earlier that Trillanes' case before the court has already been decided and was already up for promulgation when he was granted amnesty.
Trillanes was facing trial for non-bailable coup d'état before a Makati court and a separate trial before the military tribunal for leading the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 when he was Navy officer.
"If the case will be reopened, it is only for the purposes of asking for the issuance of an alias warrant of arrest, and for asking the court to promulgate the decision," he said in a press briefing.
Trillanes' amnesty was voided because he did not apply for it and because he did not admit his guilt, the Malacanang proclamation argued. But the senator called the proclamation a "bogus."
Duterte's predecessor, former President Benigno Aquino, granted amnesty to Trillanes and several other military rebels in 2011, leading to his release from detention.
Trillanes won a seat in the Senate in 2007, campaigning from detention. He was reelected in 2013. In 2016, while running for vice president, he campaigned against then Davao City Mayor Duterte.
He has since become Duterte's fiercest critic, calling on the chief executive to undergo drug tests, psychological assessments, and to bare his state of health and wealth.
- Report from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News