Senator Antonio Trillanes IV showed Wednesday documents which he said will prove that he is no longer part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) since 2007.
“These documents would prove that I am already separated from the Armed Forces of the Philippines effective August of 2007,” Trillanes told reporters in a press briefing at the Senate in Pasay City.
The senator also addressed AFP Spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo, his upperclassman in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), telling him that these are the documents that they are looking for.
“Meron pa bang malabo dyan? I hope si Col. Arevalo, Sir, ito na ang dokumentong hinahanap ninyo. I will give these documents to the members of the media,” he said.
“So wala nang basis, walang court martial, walang kaso sa civilian court, so ano pa? Bakit niyo pa ako i-a-aresto?” he also asked.
On Tuesday, after Malacañang released a proclamation revoking the amnesty given to Trillanes in 2010, Arevalo said the AFP leadership has ordered the reconstitution of a general court martial to proceed with Trillanes’ trial over the 2003 and 2007 mutinies.
Arevalo explained that repeal of the senator’s amnesty would mean that Trillanes would be reverted to being an active member of the military.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said on Wednesday that the Senate might come up with a memorandum that would regulate the entry of “armed men” in its premises.
Sotto revealed this plan when asked about the continued presence of policemen and soldiers outside the Senate amid the reported impending arrest of Trillanes.
The Senate leader said they have no “arrangement” with the police and the military outside the chamber, but “any armed component of any institution of government” must inform him first, through the Sergeant-at-Arms, before they would be allowed inside the premises.
“As a matter of fact, the Senate Secretary might issue a memorandum to that effect para hindi maabuso yan (that it would not be abused),” he told reporters on Wednesday.