In an interview with DZMM, Foreign Affairs Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano said the cancellation of Trillanes’ passport is supported by laws and has no personal motivation.
“We are just following the law in order to avoid future possible problems. We are just doing our part”, Cayetano said.
BI spokesperson Atty. Horacio Alcantara told reporters on Friday that the senator is barred from leaving the country starting today, March 16 until the case is settled in court.
In short, Trillanes will remain grounded in the country unless he wins the legal battle.
In a 12-page resolution dated March 14 and released yesterday, Pasay City Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Joahna Gabatino-Lim said Trillanes could have destabilized the very same government to which he belongs through his pronouncements in violation of Article 142 of the Revised Penal Code.
Article 142 states that inciting to sedition can be done through speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners or other representations that tend to disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his office, or instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes, or which suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots, or which lead or tend to stir up the people against the lawful authorities or to disturb the peace of the community, the safety and order of the government, or who shall knowingly conceal such evil practices.
The case stemmed from the complaint of suspended lawyer Eligio Mallari, Glenn Chong, Nestor Ifurung, Eduardo Bringas, Nasser Marohomsalic and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) undersecretary Jacinto Paras accusing Trillanes of inciting to sedition “by concocting, creating and making false documents and statements, (making) it appear that President Duterte has bank transactions from 2006 to 2015.”
Alcantara said his office also ordered the senator to surrender his passport as he is not needing it for the meantime.
All foreign trips of Trillanes will be officially cancelled after the BI’s order took effect earlier today.
The senator has yet to comment on the matter.
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