Enrile sees conviction in deferred coup ruling

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday said the Makati court's deferment of the promulgation of the verdict on the coup case against former soldiers who were involved in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny probably meant a conviction. "I assume the decision was a guilty verdict," Enrile said during a weekly forum at the Senate on Thursday. He made the statement after Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 148 deferred the announcement of its verdict on the coup d’etat charges against 22 former soldiers, including detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Enrile explained that if the decision were an acquittal, the court would have announced it because it is in line with the thrust of the amnesty proclamation. In his decision, Pimentel said even if his court had "labored" for two months to come up with the 260-page decision, the court will bow to President Benigno Aquino III's amnesty proclamation. Enrile, for his part, lauded the Makati court for exercising a "sound and wise discretion" in not promulgating the decision. "It is already a certainty that the proclamation of the President will take effect. All those people involved in the case are going to be subject of an amnesty if they apply," he said. On Tuesday, the Senate adopted the House of Representatives' resolution approving President Aquino's Proclamation 75 granting amnesty to soldiers and policemen involved in the Oakwood mutiny, the February 2006 Marine standoff, and the November 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. Among those who stand to benefit from the grant is Trillanes, who is also facing rebellion charges before the the sala of Makati RTC branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda for his supposed participation in the 2007 Manila Peninsula hotel siege. — LBG, GMANews.TV