The Supreme Court (SC) junked the proclamation order issued by former President Duterte which revoked the amnesty granted to former Senator Antonio 'Sony' Trillanes IV.
In a news release, the SC Public Information Office (PIO) said the high court ruled that Duterte's Proclamation No. 572 was "unconstitutional," hence Trillanes' amnesty was "valid."
"The Court, speaking through Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, ruled that a President cannot revoke a grant of amnesty without concurrence from Congress. The Court also grounded its ruling on the primacy of the Bill of Rights and reaffirmed that neither the Government nor any of its officials, including the President, are above the law," SC PIO said.
The high court, according to SC PIO, also pointed out that the revocation violates the former senator's "constitutional rights against ex post facto laws and double jeopardy."
"Finally, the Court found that there is convincing evidence that Trillanes did file his amnesty application. The Executive’s decision to revoke only Trillanes’ amnesty, notwithstanding the fact that the application forms of all the other amnesty grantees could similarly no longer be located, constituted a breach of his right to the equal protection of the laws," the SC PIO stated.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Trillanes thanked the high court for its decision.
"Maraming salamat po sa Supreme Court sa pagbasura ng Amnesty revocation ni duterte nung 2018. Sa kagustuhang patahimikin at ipakulong ang mga myembro ng oposisyon, sina Duterte, Medialdea, Guevarra at Calida ay gumawa ng pag-abuso ng kapangyarihan at sukdulang katangahan," he said.
Maraming salamat po sa Supreme Court sa pagbasura ng Amnesty revocation ni duterte nung 2018. Sa kagustuhang patahimikin at ipakulong ang mga myembro ng oposisyon, sina Duterte, Medialdea, Guevarra at Calida ay gumawa ng pag-abuso ng kapangyarihan at sukdulang katangahan.
— Sonny Trillanes IV (@TrillanesSonny) April 3, 2024
