Trillanes charged with making grave threats

EMBATTLED opposition Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV is facing yet another court case — this time he has been charged with threatening a government official.
In a document released on Friday, Janette O. Herras-Baggas, the Assistant City prosecutor of the Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 47, charged Mr. Trillanes with the crime of “grave threats” stemming from a confrontation with Labor Undersecretary Jacinto V. Paras during a Senate hearing last year.
According to the charge sheet, the senator made the following statements during the May 29, 2018 hearing which “created fear and anxiety on the mind” of Mr. Parras “that the threats will be carried out”:
“Ang lakas ng loob mo. Hindi magtatanggol ang amo mo. Matatapos din yan. Yayariin kita. Mersenaryo ka. Yayariin kita. (You’ve got some nerve. Your master will not save you. That will end. I will finish you. You are a mercenary. I will finish you.)”
“Tatawa-tawa ka pa. May araw ka din. Yayariin kita. (Go on, laugh. Your day will come. I will end you.)”
“Suwerte mo… mabait itong… secretary kun’di yayariin kita eh. (You are lucky… this secretary is nice, if he was not, I would finish you.)”
“I have conducted a preliminary investigation of this case in accordance with law, that the complainant was personally examined and that on the basis of the sworn statement and other evidence presented, there is reasonable ground to believe that the crime charged has been committed,” said the document which was signed by Assistant City Prosecutor.
Arraignment and a preliminary conference on the case have been set for the morning of Feb. 15, according to an order by Acting Presiding Judge Joeven D. Dellosa from the Pasay MTC dated Dec. 14, 2018. The order and the charge sheet, which was received by the court on Dec. 7, were only made public on Friday.
In the same order, Mr. Dellosa directed Mr. Paras “to appear before the Court on the same date for purposes of plea bargaining, where allowed, and notification of trial dates.”
Mr. Trillanes, who recently returned from a trip to Europe, said that he will face all the accusations against him in court.
“I just arrived from my trip last Wednesday despite all threats against me, precisely, to show there people that I am not afraid of them,” the senator said in a statement released on Friday.
This is not the first case Mr. Paras has filed against Mr. Trillanes. Last year, the Labor Undersecretary charged the Opposition Senator with inciting to sedition in relation to statements made by the senator after President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Proclamation No. 572 which voided Mr. Trillanes’ 2011 amnesty on coup d’etat charges.
Because of Proclamation No. 572, Mr. Trillanes is currently facing a revived rebellion case in a Makati court related to the Manila Peninsula incident in 2007.
Mr. Trillanes also has a libel case in Davao. — Gillian M. Cortez