Trillanes won’t go to jail as he was allowed bail

Batas Mauricio .

IF the truth be told, the chances of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV being jailed at this point is really nil or very negligible even just for a few seconds only, even if now, the Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 150, already issued a warrant for his arrest so the rebellion case that was filed against him for the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege can be resumed.

The reason? The lawmaker was allowed by the court presided over by Judge Elmo Alameda to post bail while the rebellion case against him is being tried. Indeed, the amount of the bail that was required to be put up by Trillanes was quite stiff–P200,000–but I am certain that either he or his supporters who are also the political opponents of President Duterte can easily produce that amount and deposit it in court for him to evade arrest.

As we all know by now, the rebellion case against Trillanes was re-opened and is now being tried once more after Duterte issued, on Aug. 31, 2018, an order setting aside the amnesty order that was earlier granted to the lawmaker by former President Benigno Aquino III. Aside from this rebellion case, it is a certainty that the other rebellion case against him, in connection with a 2003 uprising, will be resurrected likewise.

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For a number of times between the evening of Sept. 14, 2018 and the morning of Sept. 15, 2018, my wife and I were rudely roused from our sleep several times by the notification alerts which were being sent to my cellphone connected to Globe Telecom by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, concerning the movements of Typhoon Ompong.

I have to admit these alerts serve a truly important purpose. But, can I please make a request, NDRRMC and Globe Telecom? If you are to send these updates at all, can you give real updates? I mean, updates which are up to the last minute. The problem with your updates on Friday and Saturday, Globe Telecom and NDRRMC, was that, they were late for about two to three hours. Indeed, the calamity that the updates were intended to warn us about had already blown over or had already dissipated.

Consequently, nobody actually benefitted from your messages, there was no more need for them. What was worse was that, they even rudely woke us up from much needed sleep several times.

Please, if you are to send your updates to us next time, just make sure that they are late for at least only a few minutes or for only a few seconds. Then, you may want to study how these kinds of updates are sent by the US and other countries to their citizens. Thank God in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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Question from Janet Aguilar, a regular reader: “There is now a general feeling of fear and concern about the videos which show that young Filipino children have become shameless criminals. As you said, the youth are no longer the hope, but the curse, of the fatherland, because of the law authored by Kiko Pangilinan. My question, Sir, is, can Kiko also be held liable for the crimes that those young kids have been committing because of his law?”

Here is the answer of the Lawyers Instructed on Godliness, Humility, and Truth: We can only agree with your fear and concern about these videos of even very young children already committing heinous crimes in broad daylight yet. Come to think of it, within a span of just a few years from now, these kids would themselves become the adults in our country. I wonder what future awaits our nation if it is going to be populated, or even led, by these criminal children?

Yes, Kiko Pangilinan greatly sinned for this law, and so did his fellow lawmakers who passed it, and even the president who signed the measure into law. Without doubt, they compromised and endangered the future of the Filipino youth and of our country. On your query as to whether Kiko can be sued for the crimes committed by the young criminals, it would be clear that because of his law, the children became bold in committing even heinous crimes. He could therefore be “principal by indispensable cooperation.” So, we can try suing Kiko, and let the courts decide!

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Here is a question from a Facebook friend: “May I ask if I can file a case against the defamations and meddling in our private lives? That is what my sister-in-law is doing actually. I already brought a case against her with the barangay authorities and I forgave her, but she is not stopping in her attacks against me. She continues to disparage me and my wife. Thank you for your answer.”

Here is the answer of the Lawyers Instructed on Godliness, Humility, and Truth: Yes, cases can be filed against anyone (relatives and strangers alike) who purveys defamatory statements against their fellowmen, and who meddles unnecessarily in the lives of others. There is a crime known as defamation and, just like what we have been discussing here previously, there are two kinds of this crime–simple oral defamation and grave oral defamation. The defamation is simple if the statements are not too insulting, and grave if they are of such an insulting nature.

On the other hand, meddling with the lives of other people can become the basis of a crime known as intriguing against honor, which somehow is also punished with imprisonment by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. I suggest that an individual who feels slighted by any defamatory statement or unnecessary meddling should immediately go to a lawyer and have his or her statement or complaint prepared and filed.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com