FACT CHECK: No new arrest warrant issued for Trillanes

Claim: A court issued a warrant of arrest against former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in April 2026.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was posted in a Facebook group of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters, with 274,900 members.

It features a photo of Trillanes surrounded by police officers, appearing to show him being arrested. Overlaid text on the image reads: “Warrant, inilabas ng korte laban kay Trillanes. Breaking News.”

(Warrant issued by the court against Trillanes. Breaking News.)

As of writing, the post has garnered 280 likes, 113 comments, and 12 shares. Another post with the same photo has garnered 194 likes, 119 comments, and 12 shares.

The claim surfaced days after Trillanes, a prominent critic of Duterte, filed a cyber libel complaint against 18 former Marines and media personalities for alleging that he delivered bribe money to the International Criminal Court to influence its case against Duterte.

The facts: No official records or credible news reports show that a new warrant of arrest has been issued against Trillanes. The photo in the post was from 2018, when the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 ordered Trillanes’ arrest after then-president Duterte revoked the amnesty granted to Trillanes in connection with the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. The rebellion and coup charges against Trillanes had already been dismissed in 2011.

At the time, the 2018 arrest warrant effectively revived legal proceedings that had been considered closed.

The matter was resolved in April 2024, when the Supreme Court ruled that Trillanes’ amnesty was valid and that Duterte’s revocation was unconstitutional. The Court stated that a president cannot revoke a grant of amnesty without concurrence from Congress, and that the revival of criminal cases that had been dismissed with finality violated Trillanes’ constitutional rights.

As of April 2026, there is no evidence of any new warrant against Trillanes. The circulating claim recycles a years-old legal issue and ignores the Supreme Court’s final ruling, falsely presenting it as a recent development.

Previous arrests: Before his 2018 arrest, Trillanes was previously detained over his calls for the ouster of then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. (READ: From posh hotels to the Senate: The 3 times Senator Trillanes was arrested)

He was first arrested on July 27, 2003, after leading over 300 officers in the Oakwood mutiny to protest alleged corruption under Arroyo.

Trillanes was arrested again on November 29, 2007, after he and fellow Magdalo officers occupied the Manila Peninsula hotel to again call for Arroyo’s ouster. The six-hour standoff ended with a military assault using armored vehicles. He was detained at Camp Crame and charged with rebellion alongside at least 35 others.

In 2020, a Quezon City court ordered the arrest of Trillanes and others for conspiracy to commit sedition over videos linking the Dutertes to the illegal drug trade. Trillanes had also previously posted bail four times in Davao courts for libel cases filed by Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte.

Complaints over ICC bribery allegations: In March 2026, Trillanes filed a cyber libel complaint against 18 former Marines and several others over claims that he allegedly delivered bribe money to the ICC.

Trillanes and others questioned the timing of the allegations, noting that these coincided with the ICC confirmation of charges hearing against Duterte. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.

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