By MB Online
Former President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday said that based on his records, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV applied for amnesty.
Benigno C. Aquino III
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Aquino quoted a letter from then Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin dated January 25, 2011, which showed Trillanes' application.
"After careful review and deliberation, the committee found their applications to be in order and the applicants qualified for amnesty," Aquino read, referring to the applications of Trillanes and those of other soldiers implicated in the Oakwood and Manila Peninsula siege.
The former president added that Trillanes' name was first on the January 5 list of applicants.
"The document list where he is involved with, in this particular cases, its Oakwood and the Manila Peninsula siege," said Aquino.
"As far as our records are concerned, he did apply and that it was deliberated by DND ad-hoc committee and it is embodied in Resolution No. 2 and the summary of all of this deliberation by the ad-hoc committee was sent to me on January 25, 2011," he continued.
Aquino also noted that the natural consequence of amnesty is dismissal of charges of pending cases.
"If they were dismissed, what would be the basis of a court to deliberate any matter? And if they don't have a matter to deliberate, what again would be the basis for them to issue a warrant of arrest?"
The former president furthered that nobody opposed Trillanes' application for amnesty based on a report given to him.
"Everybody who applied for an amnesty would be subject to answer opposition if there's any and the report given to me was nobody opposed," he said.
When asked if President Duterte has the power to void the amnesty he gave to Trillanes, Aquino said: "One would want to know what the basis is, what I read earlier is that he did not apply for an amnesty, that's why I look at the records and he did apply."