Robredo: Arrest order vs Trillanes will further unite opposition

Vice President Leni Robredo said the arrest order against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV will only further unite the opposition, following the revocation of the amnesty granted to him in 2010.

“To me, what is happening with Senator Trillanes will only further unify the opposition. It only gives us reason to stand as one,” Robredo said in an interview in Filipino.

Robredo lambasted the pending arrest of Trillanes, ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte after issuing Presidential Proclamation No. 572, that voids the amnesty granted to the senator.

“That’s why to me, this is wrong. In my perspective, during this time that we are in need, in times when we are going through crisis in the country, we should unite,” she added.

She said instead of picking at its critics, the administration should channel its power to solving other pressing issues in the country, including the spike in prices of rice.

“We should be uniting, helping one another in addressing the poverty of our citizens, not how to deal with politics, or how to expel the opposition,” Robredo said.

Meanwhile, former Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin said yesterday Trillanes and other former mutineers who were granted amnesty by former President Benigno Aquino III underwent through the proper course.

“As far as I can remember all those who were granted amnesty went through the process. I am getting in touch with the Ad hoc committee so that facts can be refreshed,

these happened many years ago,” he told reporters in a text message when asked if the senator filed an application for amnesty.

Trillanes yesterday presented documents from the Department of National Defense signed by Gazmin, stating that he applied for amnesty and it was consequently approved as certified by the Ad hoc committee.