MANILA — While it has already commissioned the General Court Martial (GCM), the Armed Forces of the Philippines will wait until the Supreme Court (SC) rules on Proclamation 572, which declared the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV void ab initio.
“Finally, I have, as the appointing authority, commissioned the GCM that shall continue hearing the case of the erstwhile Navy Lieutenant Trillanes IV. When the CM resumes, it shall proceed from where it stopped in its proceedings when Presidential Proclamation 75 was signed,” AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement Sunday.
“The proceedings, however, will be held in abeyance until the SC has ruled on the merits of PP572,” he added.
Proclamation 572, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last Aug. 31, voided the amnesty granted to Trillanes by Proclamation 75 issued by former president Benigno S. Aquino III in November 2010.
“In deference to the SC that has taken cognizance of the case, we will not anymore comment on its merits as we hope other parties would follow suit,” Galvez said. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
