Gordon opposes video teleconference for Trillanes

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today joined opposition to the proposal allowing detained Senator Antonio Trillanes to participate through video teleconference during the regular Senate proceedings.

Gordon said he opposes the proposal to amend the Senate rules that would allow Trillanes to join Senate proceedings even while he is in his detention cell at the Philippine Marines Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio.

"The offenses committed by Trillanes are unbailable, being capital offenses. He violated the Constitution. He took an oath, not just once but twice," he said of Trillanes, a former soldier who run and won a seat in the Senate in 2004.

"Yes, he was elected as senator. But because of the offenses that he committed, his rights are subject to limitations. With due respect and courtesy to my colleague, Trillanes, no one is exempted from the rule of law," he added.

Trillanes was charged for rebellion after he led the failed Oakwood mutiny in July 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege in November 2007.

At the Senate hearing on Senate Resolution 765, authored by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Gordon proposed that the prosecution team in Trillanes' pending cases be invited so that their views about proposed video teleconference for Trillanes are heard.

Gordon also stressed that the proposed video teleconference for Trillanes would send a wrong message to the youth, saying that this might only indicate that the Senate is reinforcing perception that there is no equality in the country.

"What are we teaching our children? That we can get away with anything? It makes us look like we are circumventing the law here. There is no equality," he said.

Gordon noted that pardoning government officials and military officers have only added to the divisiveness in the country.

"There is no closure in this country, that is why a lot of people are angry with the government. We forgive presidents, other officials, etc., and then what happens next," he said.

Gordon, a former tourism secretary, lamented that Trillanes' alleged extraconstitutional actions have caused a dent to the government's efforts to promote the country as a tourist destination.

"Trillanes had a sworn duty to protect, preserve and defend our Constitution both as a soldier and as a senator," he said, explaining the military interventions he allegedly led had drove away tourists and resulted into foregone revenues for the government.