Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER file photo / JOAN BONDOC
AMMAN, Jordan鈥揟he Duterte administration wants opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to be in jail again as it stands by President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 proclamation voiding the senator鈥檚 amnesty.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque denied that Trillanes was 鈥減olitically oppressed with the voiding of his presidential amnesty.鈥�
READ: Duterte revokes Trillanes amnesty, orders his arrest聽
鈥淭apos, anong political oppression ang sinasabi nila? Wala ngang tigil ang mga banat nya kay Presidente. Siya ang patunay na gumagana ang demokrasya sa Pilipinas, dahil walang tigil ang banat niya sa Presidente at sa pamilya ng Presidente so walang katuturan yan,鈥� he said in an interview here.
(What political oppression are they talking about? His criticisms of the President has been relentless. He is the proof that democracy is alive in the Philippines because his criticisms against the President and his family have been relentless, so his claim is nonsense).
Asked if the government wants to see Trillanes in jail again, Roque said, 鈥淲ell, yan po ang gusto pong mangyari ng gobyerno.鈥�
(Well, that鈥檚 what the government wants to happen.)
Duterte signed Proclamation 572 on August 31 to void聽 the senator鈥檚 amnesty given by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2010.
The President said Trillanes did not file an Official Amnesty Application Form聽聽and 鈥渘ever expressed his guilt for the crimes that were committed on the occasion of the Oakwood Mutiny and the Manila Peninsula Siege.鈥�
On Thursday, the camp of Trillanes filed before the Supreme Court a petition for certiorari and prohibition to challenge the constitutionality of the President鈥檚 procalmation.
The camp of Trillanes has shown video and a copy of his application for manesty to dispute Malaca帽ang鈥檚 claim.
鈥淧alace [is] standing by [the President鈥檚] proclamation. He鈥檚 [Trillanes] gone to court. Government can defend its position in court,鈥� Roque told reporters here.
He said the government wanted Trillanes to be liable for the crime he has commited.
Trillanes, then a former Navy officer, was arrested and put to jail after he led the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 to oppose then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo鈥檚 administration they claimed marred with corruption.
In 2007, he also led聽聽the Manila Peninsula siege to call for Arroyo鈥檚 ouster.
鈥淧ananagutan po ang nais nating mangyari. Hindi pupuwede na ang isang tao na gumawa ng krimen ay hindi mapapanagot sa kanyang gawain,鈥� Roque said.聽/jpv