A MAKATI court issued on Tuesday, September 25, an arrest warrant and hold departure order against opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 issued the arrest warrant about three weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 572 , voiding the amnesty granted to the senator.
Charges of rebellion over the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007 were revived before the said court based on Proclamation 572.
With the issuance of the arrest warrant, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Trillanes should "stop the drama" and let the court decide on his fate.
"The court has spoken. As the President has said, we will respect the decision of the judiciary," Roque said in a statement.
"Whatever Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has to say can be addressed to the court. Let us stop the drama by presscon and allow the legal process to take its course," he added.
Duterte's Proclamation 572 declared Trillanes's amnesty void from the very beginning because of the former Navy officer's supposed failure to submit an official amnesty application form and admit guilt over his involvement in the failed uprisings against former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Trillanes has been holed up in his Senate office to avoid arrest since the proclamation was made known to the public on September 4.
Duterte, however, had ruled out a warrantless arrest for Trillanes, stressing that he would await the court's order.
Based on the proclamation, the Department of Justice had asked two Makati RTC branches to revive the charges against Trillanes and order the senator's arrest.
The Makati RTC Branch 148, which is handling the coup d'etat charges against Trillanes over the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, has yet to issue an order. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo and Ruth Abbey Gita/VoxPop Philippines)