AFP does not politicize with the Trillanes amnesty – DNO spox Andolong »Manila Bulletin News

By Francis Wakefield

National Defense (DND) spokesman Arsenio Andolong said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not politicized over President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to revoke Senator Antonio's amnesty Trillanes IV.

At a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Andolong said the 125,000 strong military force adhered to the chain of command concept and that it was the least organized politicized government.

"We have always subscribed to the concept of monitoring the chain of command. I think AFP is the least politicized organization. It is an apolotic organization. He follows a chain of command and the commander-in-chief is the president. So, swim-emanate carrying out actions in AFP (So, there is where all their actions emanate), "said Andolong.

"If you ask us kung can (if there is any) motive ang (the) DND to (and) AFP to deliberately put Senator Trillanes in jail just for political reasons, I do not think it's the case "he added. "We follow the procedure. We follow the command structure and we follow processes, "he said.

Once Trillanes was arrested, Andolong said the senator and the former naval officer would be handed over to the military police. DND and AFP are ready to accept it, he said. He will not receive any special treatment if he is detained at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Andolong said that preparations had been made for the transfer of Trillanes to the AFP detention center. The senator will have his own detention cell where he will stay. "I was told that he would not receive any special treatment, although I would have to add naman facilities (decent facilities), suitable for an officer and a gentleman," he added. .

Andolong said Trillanes would be taken to the same detention center at Camp Aguinaldo where he was detained in the past, "but we will ensure that all his rights are protected once he is detained", he declared.

AFP spokesman, Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said the dismissal by President Rodrigo Duterte of the amnesty granted to Trillanes in connection with two attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration brings him back to his former military status. service, he may again be subject to court martial proceedings.

"The revocation of the amnesty issued by the president" ab initio "effectively brings him back to his former status as military personnel," said Arevalo. As active military personnel, Trillanes will be subject to military regulation, including warfare, "he added.

The proclamation stipulated that the granting of the amnesty to the former LTSG Antonio Trillanes IV under Proclamation No. 75 was canceled ab initio because it did not meet the minimum requirements for be eligible for the amnesty program. As a result, the President authorized his arrest and prosecution for his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula hotel headquarters in 2007 against the President's administration. of the time, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Duterte ordered the Ministry of Justice (DOJ) and AFP to "pursue all criminal and administrative cases" against Trillanes in connection with both incidents. He also ordered the PNP and AFP "to use all legitimate means to apprehend" Trillanes "so that he could be sent back to the detention center where he had been incarcerated for that purpose. He is tried for the crimes of which he is accused. "

In 2010, former President Benigno Aquino promulgated Proclamation No. 75 granting amnesty to serving and former soldiers and policemen and their supporters involved in the Oakwood mutiny, the 2006 Marines clash and the incident. in the peninsula of Manila.

Trillanes. who was detained for seven years at the PNP detention center pending trial, was among the agents allowed to walk freely by Aquino.

Duterte's proclamation noted that Trillanes did not file an official amnesty proclamation form for the program. "There is no available copy of his application for amnesty in the files," read the proclamation.

The proclamation stated that Trillanes "has never expressed his guilt for the crimes that he has committed. "Despite the former LTSG Trillanes IV's failure to seek amnesty and refusal to admit her guilt, her name was nevertheless among the amnestied persons under Resolution No. 2 That said.

The proclamation, published last August 31, "took effect immediately". The document, published Tuesday, September 4 in a newspaper, was later confirmed by the Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevarra.