No sure vote yet for Kiko, Trillanes spokesman says

(Updated 4:11 p.m.) A case review order from President Benigno Aquino III will not mean an automatic vote from detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for Sen. Francis Pangilinan for the Senate presidency. Trillanes' spokesman lawyer Reynaldo Robles stressed this Monday amid earlier reports that Pangilinan counted Trillanes as among those who will support his bid when session opens July 26. "Di natin masasabing maliwanag yan. Nag-commit siya [Trillanes] na kasama siya sa boboto ... Yan ay listahan ni Sen. Pangilinan. Wala pang public declaration si Sen. Trillanes kung sino ang iboboto niya," Robles said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (We cannot say it is a sure thing. Trillanes merely committed to vote for a Senate president. And Pangilinan's list is his own. Trillanes has made no public declaration of who he will vote for.) But Robles also noted that while Trillanes supported the presidential bid of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. in the last election, he also said he will support the Aquino administration if it works for the good of the people. Villar looms as one of Pangilinan's potential rivals for the Senate presidency when the 15th Congress opens on July 26. Both Aquino and Pangilinan belong to the Liberal Party. In an interview aired over QTV's Balitanghali, Robles said Aquino's order to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review Trillanes' request for bail was not done to solicit his support for Pangilinan. "Bago pa siya [Aquino] naging pangulo ay sinasabi na niya na injustice itong nangyayari kay Senator Trillanes, walang kaugnayan ito (Even before Aquino became the President, he has been saying that what happened to Sen. Trillanes was an injustice, the Senate presidency has nothing to do with it)," he said.
"Puro speculation lang at this point. At this point its all speculation [kung] sino ang iboboto niya (Who Trillanes will vote for as Senate president is all speculation at this point)," Robles said in the radio interview. Despite Aquino's order to the DOJ, Malacañang maintained this was not interfering with the judiciary. (See: Aquino wants DOJ to review Trillanes bail request) In issuing the order, Aquino said Trillanes may have been a victim of injustice. He pointed out Trillanes was first jailed because he faced coup charges before the Makati City court for his participation in the Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003. Trillanes later also faced rebellion charges before the Makati City court for taking part in the Manila Peninsula hotel siege in November 2007. Earlier, Trillanes posted a P200,000 bail before the Makati RTC Branch 150 "in anticipation of the possibility" that Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati RTC branch 148 would grant his earlier motion for a leave-from-detention to attend the opening of the Senate session on July 26. (See: Trillanes posts bail to attend Senate opening session) Trillanes is currently detained at Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. He is also facing mutiny charges before a military tribunal. On the other hand, Presidential Communications Group official Herminio Coloma fended off last Saturday speculations that Aquino wants Trillanes freed early so he can support Pangilinan’s bid for the Senate presidency. "Masyado na yatang malayo, I think speculative na ang ganyang klaseng pagturing. I-limit natin sa kautusan na ire-review ang kaso (I think that’s already going too far. It is speculative. Let’s limit the discussion to the review of the case)," he said. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV