The trouble with Trillanes is that he got too cocky. Recall that he was pardoned by then President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III despite a clear recognition of the gravity of the offenses his renegade mob had committed in the early- to mid-2000s — rebellion, the deliberate endangerment of civilian life, and damage to private property. The only rationale Malacanang could provide at the time to justify this granting of amnesty was that:
(1) “there [was] a clamor from certain sectors of society urging the President to extend amnesty to said AFP personnel”;
(2) The Constitution says the President can; and,
(3) It was in line with Noynoy’s aspiring “to promote an atmosphere conducive to the attainment of a just, comprehensive and enduring peace”.
A “clamor”, a Constitional provision, and an airy-fairy aspiration to some nebulous goal constitute the only things Malacanang coughed up to justify setting loose a group of loose-cannon ex-soldiers.
Aquino could get away with a proclamation based on idiotic principles because he was popular at the time. Filipinos, true to their exhibiting the usual level of intelligence were quick to embrace the popular sentiment back then rather than engage in a bit of modern thinking. Blogger Ellen Tordesillas wrote, “Trillanes and company never stole a single centavo from the government”. I say perhaps.
But in my book Trillanes and his band of bandits did something worse. His actions contributed to undermining the stability of the state and perception overseas of the Philippines as a viable market to invest in and do business with.
Webmaster of Get Real Philippines