Misuari, who was facing charges of rebellion and detained in the Philippines since January 7, 2002, was granted temporary liberty by a Makati regional trial court last Friday after payment of P50,000.
In a press statement, Trillanes said that if Misuari was allowed to post bail, “the more Trillanes should be entitled to the same privilege” to enable him to perform his duties as elected senator.
Majority of senators had signed a resolution last year urging the courts to allow Trillanes to attend Senate sessions and hearings while his case is being tried, Pimentel recalled.
Misuari, he said, was charged with rebellion for allegedly leading an uprising in Sulu and in Cabatangan, Zamboanga City in November 2001 “resulting in losses of lives both sides.”
In contrast, the senator from Mindanao said, “Trillanes was one of the junior officers who led disgruntled government soldiers belonging to the Magdalo group in “Oakwood Mutiny” in Makati City in July 2003 “where nobody was killed.”
“After a negotiation, the renegade troops surrendered without firing a single shot,” Pimentel’s press statement read.
Trillanes, along with Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, also led the bloodless siege of Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati on Nov. 29, 2007 but “noboday was killed during the two incidents? In fact, there was no firefight.”
He said the Magdalo soldiers staged the Oakwood Mutiny to enable them to voice their grievances, particularly the widespread corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. (MindaNews)