MANILA— Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said the fate of the case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will be up to the Supreme Court (SC).
In a press briefing, the justice chief said the case “ultimately will be decided by the Supreme Court”, even as he noted the difference in the rulings of the two Makati courts hearing Trillanes’ cases.
“These factual findings (by the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148) are in direct contravention or the exact opposite of the factual findings of Branch 150 of the same court in Makati where the rebellion case is pending until the present,” Guevarra noted.
Pending before the SC is the petition by Trillanes, challenging the order of the President Rodrigo Duterte, which voided the senator’s amnesty grant. The High Court remanded the cases to the Makati court in the meantime to resolve the factual questions.
“So we are not confronted with the situation where two branches of the same court have different findings,” Guevarra said.
He said in the case of Branch 148, it went further by saying that Proclamation 572 issued by President Duterte is valid and constitutional.
“This is not the end of it,” he said.
He said to some extent, both parties were successful in convincing the court of their respective positions. In the case of the Department of Justice, it proved its contention that Proclamation no. 572 is valid and constitutional.
“On the other hand, on the part of Trillanes, the ruling was in his favor because of the factual findings of the court,” Guevarra said. (Benjamin Pulta/PNA)
