By Benjamin Pulta/PNA
MANILA — State prosecutors have yet to meet with the Office of the Solicitor General regarding the government’s next move, in connection with the coup d’ etat charges against Senator Antonio Trillanes at the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.
“I still have to discuss the next legal move with the SolGen. As I said a few days ago, a petition for certiorari is not the only option available to the DOJ,” Guevarra told reporters.
In a joint resolution, Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano turned down the motions for partial reconsideration filed by the government and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
The lawmaker’s counsels had asked to declare President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 572, which invalidated his amnesty as “illegal and/or unconstitutional” after Soriano upheld the legality of the presidential directive last month.
On the other hand, prosecutors from the Department of Justice have challenged Soriano’s factual findings — that Trillanes filed an application for amnesty and admitted his guilt for the offense of coup d’etat — which contradicted the position of the government.
