The Court of Appeals (CA) has allowed former Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV to travel abroad to attend courses on leadership and public policy despite the hold departure order (HDO) issued against him by the Makati City regional trial court (RTC) on a libel case.
In a resolution written by Associate Justice Michael P. Ong with the concurrence of Associate Justices Marlene B. Gonzales-Sison and Gabriel T. Robeniol, the CA allowed Trillanes to travel to Singapore and the United States until Sept. 22.
The CA said:
“For one, records show that accused-appellant (Trillanes) has been traveling to other countries in the past with leave of court, even as the criminal cases against him were pending, and that he has always returned to the Philippines and complied with the conditions imposed by the court.
“Moreover, the personal circumstances of accused-appellant, such as his current teaching profession in the Philippines and his standing as a public figure, further strengthen Our belief that there is little to no risk that he might abscond to another country to escape the territorial jurisdiction of the courts.
“Added to all these is the fact that the appealed Decision in Criminal Case No. 16-161 does not mete out a penalty of imprisonment upon accused-appellant, as it only imposes a fine of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000). Notably, this is the same amount of accused-appellant’s travel cash bond which, in case of flight, may be forfeited as satisfaction for his criminal liability.
“All these factors are sufficient to convince Us to grant accused-appellant’s motion to temporarily travel abroad for the period above specified.”
In seeking travel abroad, Trillanes told the CA that as professor at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government and the University of the Philippines College of Public Administration and Governance, he is “required to attend continuing professional education and to keep him abreast with the latest developments in the field of Governance.”
He said he will attend the Mastering Policy Impact Evaluation and Analysis Course at the Lee Kwan Yee School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore from Aug. 29 to Aug. 31; and the Leadership for the 21st Century course at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University from Sept. 11 to 16.