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Antonio Trillanes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2014 | |
| Senator of the Philippines | |
| In office June 30, 2007 – June 30, 2019 | |
| Chair of theSenate National Defense and Security Committee | |
| In office July 22, 2013 – June 30, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Escudero |
| Succeeded by | Gregorio Honasan |
| Chair of theSenate Civil Service and Government Reorganization Committee | |
| In office July 26, 2010 – June 30, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Panfilo Lacson (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Bong Revilla |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Antonio Fuentes Trillanes IV (1971-08-06)August 6, 1971 (age 54) Caloocan, Philippines |
| Political party | Aksyon (2024–present) Magdalo (Party-list, 2010–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal (2021–2024) Nacionalista (2010–2021)[1] UNO (2007–2010) |
| Spouse | Arlene G. Orejana–Trillanes |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Philippine Military Academy (BS) University of the Philippines Diliman (MPA) |
| Occupation | Professor, and former Philippine Navy lieutenant[2] |
| Signature | .svg) |
| Website | Official Website |
| Nickname | Sonny |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Philippines |
| Branch/service | Philippine Navy |
| Years of service | 1995–2003 (8 years) |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | Communist rebellion in the Philippines Moro conflict Oakwood mutiny |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Genres | Informative,fact-checking,news,vlogs |
| Subscribers | 68.1 thousand |
| Views | 2.12 million |
| Last updated: May 15, 2025 | |
Antonio "Sonny"Fuentes Trillanes IV (Tagalog pronunciation:[trilˈjanɛs]; born August 6, 1971)[3] is a former[4]Philippine naval officer and politician who served as asenator of thePhilippines from 2007 to 2019. He is known for his involvement in theOakwood mutiny of 2003 and theManila Peninsula siege in 2007 in protest against theArroyo administration. He was a prominent critic of theDuterte administration.
Trillanes previously ran for vice president in the2016 Philippine presidential elections. After his term as senator, he became a full-time lecturer, teaching public policy atUP National College of Public Administration and Governance of theUniversity of the Philippines Diliman and atAteneo de Manila University.[5]
Trillanes was born on August 6, 1971, inCaloocan, toNavy Capt. Antonio Floranza Trillanes ofLigao,Albay, and Estelita Diaz Fuentes ofCapiz. Raised in Caloocan, he has four siblings.[3][6][7]
Trillanes attendedSiena College of Quezon City for his elementary education, which he completed in 1983. He then attendedAngelicum School for his secondary education, completing it in 1987.[3] For his college education, he initially attendedDe La Salle University for a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering beginning in 1987. However, in 1991, he decided to enter thePhilippine Military Academy,[8] where he graduatedcum laude in 1995 with a Naval Systems Engineering degree.[8]
He received his masteral degree in Public Administration from theUniversity of the Philippines Diliman.[8]
Trillanes is a recipient of an assortment of merit medals, campaign ribbons and badges totaling 23.[3][6][9]
In July 2003, Trillanes, then a Lieutenant Senior Grade, along with Army Capt. Gerardo Gambala, led 321 junior officers and enlisted men[10] of theArmed Forces (AFP) in a mutiny against theArroyo administration. Calling themselves the "Bagong Katipuneros" (lit. 'NewKatipuneros') but tagged by the press as theMagdalo group, the soldiers occupied the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center (now Ascott Makati), aserviced apartment tower inMakati, to protest the alleged corruption of the administration when it came to the military.[11] Among their demands were the resignation ofDefenseSecretaryAngelo Reyes and AFP Chief of Intelligence ServiceVictor Corpus.[12][13]
The mutiny was unsuccessful, lasting only 18 hours. Trillanes and his men were charged in ageneral court martial. He was detained for nearly seven and a half years.[14]
On November 29, 2007, Trillanes, Brigadier Gen.Danilo Lim, and 25 others charged in relation to the Oakwood mutiny, walked out of their trial and marched in Makati towards theManila Peninsula Hotel. They seized control of the hotel, which was just a few blocks away from the location of their earlier mutiny. There, they called for the ousting of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. They were joined by former vice presidentTeofisto Guingona Jr., who called for a "new EDSA."
The attempted coup was over by 5:10 p.m.PHT, however, when government soldiers broke through the hotel. Trillanes and Lim surrendered, reasoning they were doing so "to avoid loss of lives."[15] The siege lasted for six hours.[16]
Trillanes and his cohorts were arrested by thePhilippine National Police and were sent toCamp Bagong Diwa. Among the arrested were journalists from various networks. Defense secretaryGilberto Teodoro defended the journalists' arrests, claiming the officers "didn't know the journalists and may have mistook them as renegade soldiers." The journalists were released soon after.[17]
Trillanes filed his candidacy for the2007 senatorial elections as an independent candidate. Later, however, he accepted an invitation from theGenuine Opposition as one of its guest candidates fielded against the Arroyo administration's bets. His bid was successful, and he was proclaimed senator-elect by theCOMELEC. He was the youngest senator to hold the office sinceBenigno Aquino, Jr., a record he would later share withBam Aquino in 2013.
On July 23, 2007, Trillanes filed a motion with the Makati RTC that would allow him to fulfill his senatorial duties while under detention, and allow him to attend theSONA. His plea was denied.[18] In response, formerUP presidentFrancisco Nemenzo Jr. and former Vice PresidentTeofisto Guingona Jr. launched the "Let Trillanes Serve Movement."[19]
On October 17, 2007, theSupreme Court, in an en banc resolution, directed theArmed Forces and MakatiRTC Judge Oscar Pimentel to comment within 10 days on Trillanes' petition.[20] However, these requests were later overshadowed by Trillanes' involvement in theManila Peninsula siege.
On December 20, 2010, Trillanes was temporarily released. He was later granted amnesty by PresidentBenigno Aquino III.[6][21]
Trillanes ran again for a second term, filing his candidacy for the2013 senatorial elections. Running under theNacionalista Party, he again won, garnering over 14 million votes.[22]
Trillanes was one of the most productive senators in the17th Congress, producing 232 bills in 2018, despite being only present for 52 session days.[23][24]
Trillanes declared his intention to run for higher office as vice president in the2016 national elections.[25] Running with no president, he endorsed the presidential bid ofGrace Poe.[26]
His campaign was marked by a controversy involving the several paid negative campaign ads against Rodrigo Duterte, including a video showing him dropping the finger.[27] Described as "black propaganda," Duterte's running mate Alan Peter Cayetano filed a petition to the Taguig RTC to stop the airing of the ads for 72 hours. The petition was granted by court using a TRO.[28]
Trillanes eventually lost the heavily contested race toCamarines Sur3rd District RepresentativeLeni Robredo, after garnering more than 800,000 votes.
On October 8, 2021, Trillanes filed his candidacy for senator in the2022 senatorial election, running under theLiberal Party.[29] Trillanes failed his comeback bid to the Senate after placing 21st in the official results.[30]
In early 2024, Trillanes expressed his intent to run formayor ofCaloocan during the2025 election.[31][32] On July 15, 2024, Trillanes joinedAksyon Demokratiko and confirmed his candidacy for mayor of Caloocan.[33] In the SeptemberMagdalo Party-List mass oath taking in Caloocan, Trillanes formally announced his mayoralty candidacy.[34] He was an opposition candidate against the Malapitan family, who has held the mayoral position since 2013, withAlong Malapitan as the incumbent.[35] However, he lost his bid, placing second behind Malapitan.[36]
From August 2014 to January 2016, Trillanes led 25 hearings as part of theSenate Blue Ribbon Committee, wherein he accused Vice PresidentJejomar Binay and his family of various corrupt practices especially during the family's tenure asmayor of Makati.[37]
As a result, in 2017,Junjun Binay filed a libel case against Trillanes, accusing him of “publicly and maliciously” accused him and his family of “bribery and other crimes without factual basis.”[38] In 2021, Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 ruled Trillanes guilty forlibelous claims,fined him₱100,000, and asked him to pay₱500,000 in moral damages and lawsuit costs.[39][40]
Before the 2016 election, he alleged that then-Davao City Mayor and presidential candidateRodrigo Duterte had an account atBank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Julia Vargas branch inPasig, allegedly containing₱2.2 billion.[41][42] Duterte, later on in his presidency, confirmed the existence of the alleged bank accounts,[43] but he refused to sign a waiver to dispute the alleged billions of pesos contained therein.[44]
Likewise, Duterte alleged that Trillanes closed his accounts inDBS Bank days before going toSingapore and then showed that there were no such accounts.[45] However, DBS Bank disputed this and clarified that account closures cannot be done online.[46]
In an attempt to silence Trillanes's exposés against President Duterte, his administration filed and revived at least 14 cases against Trillanes.[47] On July 19, 2019, thePNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed charges against Trillanes and other members of theopposition for "sedition, cyber libel, libel,estafa, harboring a criminal, andobstruction of justice".[48][49][50] On February 10, 2020, Trillanes and 10 others were indicted for "conspiracy to commit sedition" over an alleged ouster plot against Duterte.[51][52][53]
In July 2024, Trillanes filedplunder charges against SenatorBong Go and former President Duterte, accusing Go of "unduly enriching himself" by allegedly using "his position, authority and influence to corner billions worth of government projects in favor of his father and brother". Trillanes further alleged that Go's father and brother were awarded₱6.6 billion worth of government contracts. Trillanes based his case on aPhilippine Center for Investigative Journalism 2018 report stating that CLTG Builders was awarded₱4.6 billion government contracts while Alfrego Builders, owned by Go's brother, won₱1.74 billion worth of projects. Trillanes also accused Go and Duterte of violating Republic Act No. 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and Republic Act No. 6713 (The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).[54]
Trillanes also filed adrug smuggling case with theDepartment of Justice againstPaolo Duterte,Nicanor Faeldon,Mans Carpio, formerNational Commission on Indigenous Peoples former head,Allen Capuyan, Davao City Councilor Nilo "Small" Abellera Jr., Charlie Tan, and four others. Thecomplaint is anchored on the 2017 drug smuggling scandal where₱6.4-billionmethamphetamine shipment was seized inValenzuela, Metro Manila.[55] In December 2018, Trillanes posted abail of₱96,000 before thePasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 118 for the four counts of libel filed by Paolo Duterte, following Trillanes' investigation into the smuggling scandal.[56]
Trillanes furthermore filed with theDOJplunder under Republic Act No. 7080 andgraft cases against Rodrigo Duterte, Bong Go, andRobert Empedrad regarding the allegedly anomalous₱16-billion contract of twofrigatesBRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) andBRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) withHD Hyundai Heavy Industries. Emperad denied the accusation for it was signed two years after his retirement.[57]
On August 31, 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 572, revoking Trillanes's amnesty.[58][59] Duterte ordered theDepartment of Justice and theArmed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to review all criminal cases in relation to the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and 2007 Peninsula siege.[58] Shortly after that, Trillanes told to the reporters that he would not evade the case and he also told to Duterte that he is not afraid of him.[60] The amnesty (Proclamation No 50) was granted by then-PresidentBenigno Aquino III and later issued Proclamation 75 superseding Proclamation no. 50 back in 2010.[60]
On September 7, the DOJ filed the application for an arrest and hold departure against Trillanes and it was signed at Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 by Acting Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon as "very urgent".[61] On September 25, Trillanes posted a bail worth₱200,000 on rebellion charges after undergoing booking procedures with his mug shots taken at the Makati City Police Station.[62]
Opposition politicians expressed condemnation over the revocation of the amnesty: Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, who also led the mutiny with Trillanes,[63] calls it "political persecution" of Duterte's critics and he also slammed Duterte for what was called a "clear act of revenge" against Trillanes.[64]Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin called the revocation "highly preposterous" and "clearly a political vendetta."[64] On September 7, former Solicitor GeneralFlorin Hilbay said in an interview that the decision against Trillanes is similar to the case of SenatorLeila de Lima, who wasdetained for allegedly violating the drug trafficking law almost a year and a half ago.[65][66] Supporters of Trillanes gathered outside the Senate and held a vigil.[67] Duterte severely lambasted Trillanes by describing the latter as "corrupt" and accused him of "abandoning" the military for his personal interests.[68]
On October 22, The Regional Trial Court in Makati denied the government's petition to have Trillanes arrested, saying the coup d'état case against the senator was already dismissed on September 21, 2011, and that the dismissal was "final and executory".[69]
In G.R. Nos. 241494, 256660 & 256078 (Sen. Antonio "Sonny" F. Trillanes IV v. Hon. Salvador C. Medialdea, et al; People of the Philippines v. Antonio F. Trillanes IV, People of the Philippines v. Antonio F. Trillanes IV), the Supreme CourtEn banc per ponenteMaria Filomena Singh ruled on April 3, 2024, that "the amnesty granted to former senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV (Trillanes) is valid and that its revocation through Proclamation No. 572, issued by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, is unconstitutional grounded on primacy ofArticle III – Bill of Rights". Trillanes, through hisX account, thanked the Supreme Court for the decision and claimed that the amnesty revocation was made by Duterte,Salvador Medialdea,Menardo Guevarra, andJose Calida "to silence and imprison opposition members."[70][71]
On May 14, 2024, Trillanes IV fileddefamation andcyberlibel complaintaffidavits with theQuezon City Prosecutors's Office againstHarry Roque, Guillermina Barrido,Sonshine Media Network International hosts and executives, and vlogger Lord Byron Cristobal, aka "Banat By". He also filed separatecomplaints with theNational Bureau of Investigation againstsocial media-citizen media account owners grounded on “persistentonlineattacks and spreading offalse accusations.” Nameddefendants are Mr. Realtalker or Lods Chinito (with TikTok handles @chinitorealtalker and @chinitotisoy01); Melagin Nastor Evangelista or CATASTROPHE (with X handle @gurlbehindthisb); JoeLas (with X handle “@j_laspinas), Michael Gorre or KampilaBoy (with X handle @KampilanBoy); Hampaslupang Mandaragat (with X handle @JohnAmasa2); and X handle @SaraAll2028.[72][73]
Trillanes is married to Arlene G. Orejana, aPMA graduate. They have had three children, one of whom died just 21 days after birth.[8]
The "IV" in his name is derived from being the fourth male child of his family, as all of his siblings are named after their father.[6]
In February 2020, Trillanes launched hisvlogTRx: Trillanes Explains, where he discusses pressing issues and releases exposés coursed through his social media accounts.[74] He also revealed on his vlog that he was diagnosed withCOVID-19 in August 2020; he was able to recover from the virus.[75]
| Year | Office | Party | Votes received | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Swing | |||||
| 2007 | Senator of the Philippines | UNO | 11,189,671 | 37.93 | 11th | — | Won | |
| 2013 | Nacionalista | 14,127,722 | 38.34% | 9th | +0.41 | Won | ||
| 2022 | Liberal | 8,630,272 | 15.54% | 21st | -22.80 | Lost | ||
| 2016 | Vice President of the Philippines | Independent | 868,501 | 2.11% | 5th | — | Lost | |
| 2025 | Mayor of Caloocan | Aksyon | 229,512 | 39.22% | 2nd | — | Lost | |
Testifying before the Makati Regional Trial Court, the retired Armed Forces chief said compared to the 1987 and 1989 military uprisings, the 2003 Oakwood mutiny was not a coup because the soldiers did not call for President Arroyo's removal from Malacañang...
Ako, personally, the plan is to run for a local- local position, as mayor of Caloocan. Hindi pa formal yung announcement, but the plan is... is leaning towards that.
"The filing of cases against key members of the opposition are clear acts of political persecution and harassment by the Duterte administration meant to stifle democratic dissent," Trillanes said in a statement.... ..."Anu't-ano pa man, haharapin ko ito at gagamitin kong pagkakataon na mailabas ang kaugnayan ni Duterte sa ilegal na droga," Trillanes said. "The filing of cases against key members of the opposition are clear acts of political persecution and harassment by the Duterte administration meant to stifle democratic dissent," Trillanes said in a statement. "Anu't-ano pa man, haharapin ko ito at gagamitin kong pagkakataon na mailabas ang kaugnayan ni Duterte sa ilegal na droga," Trillanes said. (Whatever happens, I will face this and take this opportunity to prove Duterte's links to illegal drug operations.)
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