An Executive Decision

The issuance of Proclamation 572 dated August 31, 2018 revoking and voiding the amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for his participation in the Oakwood mutiny and the Manila Peninsula incident is a clear exercise of an inherent executive power of the President.

Section 19 of Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution dealing with the executive department of the national government provides that, “Xxx. He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the Congress.”

The grant of an amnesty is an exclusive power given to the President of the Republic with the concurrence of a majority of Congress. Thus, if it can be later on determined by the same executive department that such grant of an amnesty is not valid for failure of the grantee/s to meet the requirements then, not only in theory but in practice, the President shall also have the power to revoke such previous grant of amnesty. Likewise, amnesty is granted by the Chief Executive due primarily to political considerations and does not take into account the gravity or severity of the acts and laws that may have been violated in the perpetration of such acts. The President in granting such amnesty need only to exercise his power of discretion in determining whether such grant will aid his administration’s objectives and hopefully benefit the nation as a whole.

Now Senator Trillanes is correct in going to the Supreme Court to seek help regarding the revocation and voiding of his amnesty but ultimately my view is that the highest court of the land will say and explain that the matter is a political question best left to the will of the one who executed the act. Also, since the determination in the grant of an amnesty is a political decision reserved to the Chief Executive then no interpretation of the court is necessary out of respect for a co-equal branch of government.

This I believe will be the way the High Court will rule on the petition of Senator Trillanes and that perhaps the most that the latter can get from the former is the grant for a temporary injunction while the main subject of the petition will be decided.

For all his claim of righteousness and uprightness, and his extreme criticism of the President and his present administration, Trillanes may have forgotten Newton’s Third Law which states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

President Duterte for the past three years of his administration seemed to have patiently tolerated the rants and tirades of Senator Trillanes but perhaps now the patience of the former has finally run out and has decided to get back at his critic.

It would do well for Senator Trillanes to also remember that the amnesty granted to him was issued by another president likewise for political considerations and so such grant can never be deemed as permanent or irrevocable but will always be subject to whatever political wind is in the air.

Sideglance

Amianan Balita Ngayon