Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Filipino senator Antonio Trillanes IV and others accused of trying to overthrow the former president Gloria Arroyo's administration will most likely be home for Christmas as Congress appears headed to approving President Benigno Aquino�s amended amnesty proclamation.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa on Thursday said members of the Senate and the House of Representatives were involved in the drafting of Presidential Proclamation No. 75, which amended PP 50.
Copies of PP 75, which states that it will take effect �upon concurrence of a majority of all members of Congress," were received on Thursday by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
PP 50 had stated that it would �take effect immediately upon the signing thereof."
Ochoa said Malaca?ang had been in consultation with Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation, and Representatives Niel Tupas of Iloilo and Rodolfo Biazon of Muntinlupa City.
Asked if Trillanes would be home for Christmas as a result of PP 75 and Congress' expected timely concurrence, Ochoa said: �That�s the idea.
�My impression is both houses of Congress are bent on doing that."
Guingona also told the Inquirer that �the hope is for (Trillanes) to walk free before Christmas, and I think it�s still tenable."
Back pay etc.
Ochoa said Malaca?ang made sure that the amended proclamation was acceptable to both chambers of Congress before the President signed it.
It is now up to the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces to come up with the implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), he said, adding that the House leadership wanted to see these before concurring.
�Well, we�re trying to expedite (the process). We have given instructions to the DND... for those who, in any way, will almost certainly be granted amnesty. We are pushing that before Christmas they will already feel the effects of the amnesty," Ochoa said.
"Specifically, we�re talking about Senator Sonny Trillanes," Ochoa said. "We hope that he can spend time with his family before Christmas. That�s one of the primary considerations here."
According to Ochoa, PP 75 contains provisions that lawmakers specified, such as the reinstatement of soldiers with a rank lower than master sergeant, inclusion of Philippine National Police officers who were previously referred to as sympathizers and back pay for those reinstated.
Under what Guingona described as a "better proclamation", Trillanes, former Brigadier General Danilo Lim, former Colonel Ariel Querubin and other officers involved in attempts to overthrow then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not be reinstated and will thus not be entitled to back pay.
courtesy of
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