By DJ Yap
Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines–The Makati court handling the coup d’etat case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will hear on Friday his motion appealing the ruling rejecting his request for furlough to attend Senate sessions.
Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 will hear the arguments of both parties on whether he should reverse his decision denying Trillanes leave to perform his Senate duties while under detention.
On Thursday, the prosecution panel led by Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera filed another pleading opposing Trillanes’ motion, which they said smacked of special treatment.
“Accused Trillanes is not asking for nothing; he is asking for too much…He wants to be out of detention from morning to evening to attend all Senate sessions at the GSIS Building in Pasay City,” they said.
“He wants a working area in the Marine brig with telephone lines and Internet access. He wants to receive members of his staff at all times. He wants access to media at all times,” the prosecutors added.
They said Trillanes’ motion was “uncannily similar” to former Zamboanga del Norte representative Romeo Jalosjos’ “motion to be allowed to discharge mandate as member of the House of Representatives,” after he was elected while in detention on charges of statutory rape and acts of lasciviousness.
The motion was denied when Jalosjos’ conviction was upheld.
“He [Trillanes] should just admit to this Honorable Court that he is asking for special treatment as a Senator of the Republic,” the prosecutors said.
Earlier, Trillanes said denying him the chance to perform his duties was like a “slap in the face” of the 11 million who voted for him, and was akin to “denying the people’s will, repudiating their choice and overruling their mandate as the sovereign of the nation.”
Trillanes asked the court to grant him leave to attend all official Senate functions, increased media access, and a workstation inside his cell.
In denying Trillanes’ motion, Pimentel cited the “Jalosjos doctrine,” which stated: “When the voters of his district elected the accused-appellant to Congress, they did so with full awareness of the limitation on his freedom of action.”
Pimentel agreed with the Jalosjos doctrine that “allowing a prisoner to attend congressional sessions and committee meetings for five days or more in a week will virtually make him a free man” and would constitute preferential treatment.
Trillanes argued that Jalosjos was charged with various counts of rape and lasciviousness, crimes involving moral turpitude, while he was charged with the offense of coup d’etat, “a charge which is commonly regarded as a political offense.”
He added that Jalosjos was convicted at the time he sought furlough to serve his term, while he is still undergoing trial.
A better comparison, said Trillanes, would be with the cases of former president Joseph Estrada and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Nur Misuari, who were allowed some liberties to perform political functions.
The prosecutors, however, argued that citing the Estrada and Misuari cases “assumes the trees for the forest.”
“The vast majority of non-bailable detention prisoners, who are not among the ‘contemporary examples’ cited by accused Trillanes, do not enjoy special treatment,” they said.
September 29th, 2007 at 12:18 am
Bakit hindi na lang natin hintayin ang pasya ng korte tungkol dito. Magtalo man tayo maghapon at magdamag ganoon pa rin ang kahahantungan nito. Doon sa nagsasabing wala siyang kasalanan, bakit hindi kayo pumunta sa korte at tumestigo para sa kanya? Hindi tanga si Trillanes para hindi niya maisip na maaring mangyari ito. Alam niyang may kaso siya at alam niyang kailangan niya itong panagutan. Ang kaniyang pagkapanalo bilang senador ay walang kinalaman sa usaping ito.Dahil kung hahayaan nating ang eleksiyon ang magsilbing basehan sa mga kasong kinasasangkutan ng mga kandidato, ay malamang malaya pa sa ngayon ang tulad ni Jalosjos. Di ba’t kahit siya (Jalosjos)ay nasentensiyahan na at nakakulong ay makailang-ulit pa siyang nahalal sa kaniyang distrito?
Doon sa mga nagsasabing dapat ay gawing bayani si Trillanes dahil sa pagsasaad ng baho ng gobyerno ay dapat mag-isip ng mabuti. Dahil kung ito lang basehan ninyo ng kabayanihan ay dapat ninyo ring itanghal na bayani ang mga NPA, Abu Sayaff at iba pang kaaway ng bayan dahil madalas din silang nagsasabi ng kabulukan ng pamahalaan. At madalas din silang gumamit ng dahas para ipaunawa sa atin ang kanilang ipinakikipaglaban. Hindi na bale kung ito ay nakakaapekto sa pangkahalahatang seguridad at kaayusan.
Sa ganang akin, hindi masama ang magsabi ng iyong hinanakit o saloobin pero dapat mo itong gawin sa tama at legal na pamamaraan. Kaya nga tayo may batas para mailagay sa ayos ang mag bagay-bagay. Ginawa ang mga ito para sa lahat at hindi para sa iilan. Kung may problema tayo sa batas ay kailangang gumawa tayo ng paraan para ito mabago, pero pansamantala dapat natin itong igalang. Si Trillanes ay isang alagad ng batas. Bilang isang opisyal ng militar ay alam niya ang kahalagahan ng disiplina sa isang organisasyon. Kung may problema siya sa pamamalakad ng militar o pamahalan man dapat niyang igalang ang proseso ukol dito. Sa pinili niyang pamamaran ay marami ang napinsala at naapektuhan. Bilang isang opisyal at maginoong tao kailangan niyang sagutin ng tapat ang mga katanungan ukol dito sa harap ng batas at hindi sa paningin ng publiko.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:28 am
This is absurd. He is accused not convicted. But they treating him as a convicted person. Does everyone understand the difference. Jalosjos raped a Victim whereas trillanes exposed the dirty laundry of the government. Somebody says here that he is a pain in the Government, that is a praise to Trillanes.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:03 am
yah right!!!
September 5th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
anonymous,
As it is the Executive Branch and the magkAKAMPIs by their abuses violated their oath to the Filipino people, a far more grave violation indeed.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Trillanes violated his oath as an officer in the
military service. While his complaints may be well founded, he should have brought it to the attention of the Inspector General. It appears that he is misguided violating the principles he sworn in to uphold, now you want him to serve as a Senator. The country need a make over to overcome the corruption but it can not be accomplished by putting someone with the ambition of running the country by force — coup d’etat — he should be tried by court martial, found guilty and serve time in jail.