SENATOR GUINGONA III FRUSTRATED W/ PALACE LEGAL TEAM ON AMNESTY
MANILA, NOVEMBER 23, 2010 (STAR) By Marvin Sy - Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation, expressed frustration yesterday after Malacañang decided to amend Proclamation 50 that granted amnesty to participants of the so-called Oakwood mutiny in Makati in 2003.
Guingona was supposed to present before the plenary yesterday the committee report on the amnesty that was to pave the way for a vote on the measure that is expected to pardon the rebel soldiers involved in the Oakwood mutiny, including Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
The senator said that he had to withdraw the report after he was informed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. over the weekend that Proclamation 50 will be amended.
"Yes, it is quite frustrating," Guingona said when asked about the need to make changes to the proclamation.
He said the Senate would now wait for the new proclamation, which is expected to come out on Wednesday or Thursday, before conducting a new hearing.
President Aquino signed Proclamation 50 last October, which granted amnesty to military personnel accused of trying to oust then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The amnesty would cover more than 300 officers and enlisted men including Trillanes, the former Navy lieutenant senior grade who led the mutiny at Oakwood Premiere residences in 2003.
Trillanes was jailed after the Arroyo government filed coup charges against him and several military officers for their role in the July 2003 siege.
He was also charged with rebellion for taking part in the Peninsula Manila hotel standoff in November 2007.
The amnesty proclamation also covers the cases of Marine colonel Ariel Querubin, former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, and Army Scout Ranger chief Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim who took part in a failed power grab in February 2006.
The amendment to the proclamation was prompted by questions raised by the House of Representatives over provisions that some legislators described as flawed.
Guingona cited the flaw of one particular provision of Proclamation 50, Section 5, which states: "This proclamation shall take effect immediately upon the signing thereof."
The congressmen said the amnesty proclamation could only be implemented after concurrence of Congress.
He pointed out that the provision was the same as the one contained in Proclamation 80 issued by Aquino's mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino, in February 1987, that also granted amnesty to all persons, who in the furtherance of their political beliefs, may have committed acts penalized by existing laws.
"But you must remember that when President Cory made that proclamation, she had executive and legislative powers at the same time," Guingona said.
"It was a revolutionary government at the time so that's why it took effect immediately. But now it's a different regime, we have a functioning legislature, we have a functioning Senate and Congress," he added.
Guingona said he understood the need for the Palace to amend the proclamation in order to be more precise.
It was not the first time that the Palace had to amend its issuances. The very first executive issuance of the Aquino administration, Memorandum Circular No. 1, had to be amended a day after it was issued because of the widespread confusion it caused within the bureaucracy. MC No. 1 mandated the termination of the services of all non-career service employees in the government.
Two other executive orders, EO 1 and EO 2, also were challenged at the Supreme Court.
EO 1 created the Truth Commission that would investigate the alleged anomalies of the Arroyo administration while EO 2 declared as vacant all the positions of midnight appointees of former president Arroyo.
A majority of senators were expected to concur with Proclamation 50, primarily because their colleague Trillanes would be covered by the amnesty and he will be released from detention.
Only one senator has openly opposed Proclamation 50.
Sen. Joker Arroyo questioned the grant of amnesty because it will only enable impunity and promote recidivism.
"As matters stand, the Senate is being asked to concur in an executive action that would permit the ordinariness of mutinies in the uniformed service," Arroyo said.
"We were taught in school the basic and simple rule that applies to rebellion. Rebellion is a crime of the highest order against the state punishable by reclusion perpetua," he added.
Arroyo also cited the conflicting opinions of the executive branch on the admission of guilt as a precondition for amnesty.
He said the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, in its briefer on presidential amnesties, expressly cited the case of Vera vs. People of the Philippines in 1963 which held that "to avail of the benefits of an amnesty proclamation, one must admit his guilt of the offense covered by the proclamation."
He noted that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has claimed that "no requirement, neither law nor jurisprudence, require that there should first be an admission of guilt or remorse for those affected by amnesty."
"Which is which? How can the Senate extend its concurrence when the executive branch gives us conflicting opinions on the admission of guilt as a precondition for amnesty?" Arroyo said.
Arroyo reiterated his stand that it would be best for Congress to wait for the promulgation of the Makati regional trial court on the case of Trillanes and his co-accused before voting on the proclamation.
Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Makati RTC is expected to come out with a decision soon. "What is important is for the people to know that after EDSA, there shall have been, at long last and for the first time, a judicial decision, not a political pronouncement that finally and definitively addresses the legality of recurring attempts to overthrow the government," Arroyo said.
----------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright, 2010 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
