DND chief OKs amnesty of Trillanes, others

The Department of National Defense (DND) has approved the amnesty application of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a former Navy officer who led two attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration. DND spokesman Eduardo Batac said Trillanes was included in the batch whose application was approved Wednesday by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
The batch filed their application forms from Jan. 4 to 7. The exact number of the batch, however, could not be immediately known. "We just wanted to complete the first batch as soon as possible," Batac said. He said the applications of Trillanes and other alleged mutineers were approved because nobody opposed the requests within 15 days after these were filed. Trillanes applied last Jan. 5. "Yung 15 days di ba? So after 15 days ... the committee deliberates and forwards its recommendation to the SND (Secretary of National Defense) and SND approves," Batac said. Trillanes, who had been detained since July 2003, was granted temporary freedom by the Makati Regional Trial Court on Dec. 20 last year. Applicants As of Jan. 21, 2011, a total of 189 officers and men have applied for amnesty: 53 officers and 156 enlisted personnel. Applicants whose applications would be rejected will have 10 days to seek a reconsideration. Over 300 military officers and enlisted personnel participated in three different uprisings from 2003: the Okawood mutiny in 2003, the Marine standoff in 2006, and the Peninsula Manila siege in 2007. Based on the Implementing Rules and Regulations approved by President Benigno Aquino III, one of the major provisions of applying for amnesty is an admission of guilt of violating the Constitution. Trillanes was among the over 300 soldiers who took over a posh Makati City hotel in 2003 to air their grievances over supposed corruption in government under the Arroyo administration. He also led the siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City in Nov. 2007, to demand Arroyo's resignation. — KBK/LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV