Trillanes posts P96K bail over libel raps
Credit to Author: NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS| Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:24:56 +0000
Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th avoided detention after paying a P96,000-bail bond before a Pasay City court for four counts of libel lodged in Davao City by President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Manases Carpio.
The senator posted bail at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 118 before noon on Monday after he was charged and ordered arrested by Davao RTC Branch 54 last Friday.
Branch 118 Judge Rowena Nieves-Tan was given the green light by the Davao court, which has the jurisdiction over the case, to accept Trillanes’ bail.
“Accused [Trillanes], after having voluntarily appeared before this Court and posted the required cash bond… which is to the satisfaction of the Court, said cash bail is hereby approved… Accordingly, the Warrant of Arrest dated Dec. 7, 2018 issued against the said accused is hereby lifted and set aside,” Trillanes’ bail papers read.
Davao RTC Branch 54 Judge Merlinda Alconcel-Danghirang prescribed a P24,000 bail bond per count, which totaled P96,000.
Nieves-Tan, however, ordered the senator to coordinate with the Davao court within 30 days on the date of his arraignment.
Alconcel-Danghirang, after issuing one arrest order, issued three more on Friday and ordered Trillanes’ appearance before her within 10 days upon receipt.
Trillanes, a fierce Duterte critic, said it was clear the Duterte family has a personal issue against him, and said the cases were mere harassment.
“This is another challenge in our role as a critic of Mr. Duterte, so I accept these challenges,” he told reporters.
The son of President Duterte had accused Trillanes of slandering him and his family during a Cebu City radio interview.
In the interview, Trillanes allegedly accused Paolo Duterte of corruption and extortion involving Uber and other companies regulated by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the Road Board and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The other complaints stemmed from the senator’s accusations of corruption during the Senate inquiry into Duterte and Carpio’s involvement in the Chinese drug trade.
The Pasay RTC Branch 118 on Friday also granted Prosecutor Reynaldo Ticyado’s motion to withdraw the issuance of an ex-parte precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against Trillanes.
Nieves-Tan said Ticyado pleaded for the withdrawal as he was unable to get witnesses to testify against Trillanes.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed before the Pasay and Davao courts last week a motion to bar the senator from travelling abroad, after Makati RTC Branch 150 lifted its travel ban against the former mutineer.
Ticyado was the prosecutor tasked by the DoJ to secure a PHDO against Trillanes.
‘Amsterdam trip still tentative’
Trillanes is set to fly to Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Tuesday, the first of several trips abroad he was permitted to make by Makati RTC Branch 150.
He, however, said he was still uncertain on whether he could make the trip today as the Davao RTC Branch 54 still had to decide whether it would issue a PHDO order against him.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the matter of having the Davao court’s permission to travel was between Trillanes and the court, saying that if the senator was willing to risk travelling without the nod of the court, it was “his own lookout.”
“My instruction to the Bureau of Immigration is clear: if there’s no HDO issued by any court, let Senator Trillanes travel abroad,” he told reporters in a text message.
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