Wednesday, January 5, 2011

After applying for amnesty, Trillanes criticizes Arroyo anew

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV might have already applied for the government's amnesty but that did not stop him from throwing anew criticisms against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Trillanes was among some 300 servicemen who called themselves "Magdalo soldiers" and took over a posh Makati City hotel in 2003 to air their grievances about supposed government corruption in the Arroyo administration.

On Wednesday, Trillanes, along with 38 other military officers and enlisted personnel who participated in the botched uprising, filed an application for amnesty.

In applying for amnesty, Trillanes said he made a "general admission" that he violated certain provisions of the Articles of War and the Revised Penal Code.

Admission of guilt was required in the Implementing Rules and Regulation for the amnesty proclamation signed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

Even though he insisted that his application was not tantamount to an admission of guilt to charges of coup d'etat, Trillanes said he was certain of one thing he was guilty of.

"We admit guilt as far as rising up against the most corrupt president this country ever had, proudly," said Trillanes, who rose to popularity after the Oakwood mutiny and even received an overwhelming 11 million votes in the 2007 senatorial race.

Arroyo's spokesman in Congress, Elena Bautista-Horn, has yet to respond to text messages sent by GMANews.TV for her camp's reaction.

'I'm not wishing to meet Arroyo'

Arroyo, after stepping down as president in June 2009, assumed a seat in Congress as a representative of Pampanga's Second District.

It is thus possible that Arroyo and Trillanes could rub elbows when both chambers of Congress convene in a bicameral meeting this year.

Asked what would be the first thing he would tell the former president in case they bump into each other, Trillanes said: "We dont need to say antyhing to each other."

Trillanes assured he would not do or say anything untoward to Arroyo because "civil po tayo. Hindi naman tayo barbarians."

However, Trillanes added that if given a choice, he would rather not come face to face with the former chief executive.

"As much as we can, let's avoid such a meeting," Trillanes said. – VVP, GMANews.TV

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