SOURCE: INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines―A key participant in one of the failed efforts to unseat then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has rejected the idea of having to admit guilt if only to avail himself of President Benigno Aquino III’s amnesty proclamation.
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MANILA, Philippines―A key participant in one of the failed efforts to unseat then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has rejected the idea of having to admit guilt if only to avail himself of President Benigno Aquino III’s amnesty proclamation.
Former Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim Saturday said admitting guilt would make it appear that Mr. Aquino was “exonerating” his predecessor of the purported abuses that gave rise to the failed uprisings against her.
“If an apology would be required, what would happen to the things that we all fought for? What about [the] ‘Hello Garci’ [election fraud scandal] and the other anomalies under the previous administration?” he told the Inquirer by phone.
Lim was among the military officers who declared withdrawal of support from Arroyo in 2006. He also joined fellow rebel officer Antonio Trillanes IV, now a senator, in a court walkout that led to the 2007 siege of the Peninsula Manila hotel.
No comment
Trillanes, who is on provisional liberty pending the effectivity of Mr. Aquino’s Proclamation No. 75, Saturday declined comment on the purported necessity of admitting guilt over his role in the failed attempts to oust Arroyo.
“I can’t comment until I see the final implementing rules and regulations [of the amnesty proclamation],” he told the Inquirer.
The President’s chief legal counsel Ed de Mesa had earlier said those who would apply for amnesty would have to admit guilt in the application form.
But Lim said such a requirement was not included in Proclamation 75 itself and, thus, should not find its way in the implementing rules or the application form.
“It’s clear in the proclamation that admission of guilt or an apology is not required,” he said.
Lim was mum on whether he would apply for amnesty. He gained temporary liberty after posting bail for a coup charge against him in a Makati court.
He said he saw the amnesty proclamation as “the present leadership’s way of recognizing our efforts and sacrifices in the past administration.”
But he added that requiring amnesty applicants to first admit guilt would “dilute” their actions against the past regime’s purported abuses.
“If an apology would be required, what would happen to the things that we all fought for? What about [the] ‘Hello Garci’ [election fraud scandal] and the other anomalies under the previous administration?” he told the Inquirer by phone.
Lim was among the military officers who declared withdrawal of support from Arroyo in 2006. He also joined fellow rebel officer Antonio Trillanes IV, now a senator, in a court walkout that led to the 2007 siege of the Peninsula Manila hotel.
No comment
Trillanes, who is on provisional liberty pending the effectivity of Mr. Aquino’s Proclamation No. 75, Saturday declined comment on the purported necessity of admitting guilt over his role in the failed attempts to oust Arroyo.
“I can’t comment until I see the final implementing rules and regulations [of the amnesty proclamation],” he told the Inquirer.
The President’s chief legal counsel Ed de Mesa had earlier said those who would apply for amnesty would have to admit guilt in the application form.
But Lim said such a requirement was not included in Proclamation 75 itself and, thus, should not find its way in the implementing rules or the application form.
“It’s clear in the proclamation that admission of guilt or an apology is not required,” he said.
Lim was mum on whether he would apply for amnesty. He gained temporary liberty after posting bail for a coup charge against him in a Makati court.
He said he saw the amnesty proclamation as “the present leadership’s way of recognizing our efforts and sacrifices in the past administration.”
But he added that requiring amnesty applicants to first admit guilt would “dilute” their actions against the past regime’s purported abuses.
