MANILA — Two of Sen. Antonio Trillanes’ most vocal critics now once called for an amnesty for him and fellow mutineers “in the spirit of peace and reconciliation,” a copy of a 2010 statement showed.

Secretary Harry Roque, then representing the Concerned Citizen Movement, and retired Navy Commodore Rex Robles joined 77 other prominent personalities in making the appeal to then President Benigno Aquino III.

Aquino later granted amnesty to the mutineers, but Duterte nullified Trillanes’ last week because it was allegedly “fatally flawed.”

A member of Trillanes’ Magdalo group gave ABS-CBN News a copy of the statement to show how Roque’s opinion about the mutineers had changed under a different circumstance and administration.

The 2010 statement said the mutineers’ “battle cry... coalesced into the bigger struggle of millions of other patriotic and freedom‐loving Filipinos: the fight against corruption, electoral fraud and other evils of bad governance.”

Trillanes and company had “already suffered the consequences of their actions” and had “paid their dues,” it said.

BETRAYAL

Roque has been critical of Trillanes, saying “the past finally caught up“ with the senator.

"If he did not participate in the Oakwood mutiny and Manila Peninsula siege, he would not have this case,” Roque said last week.

Robles, a member of the commission that investigated the Oakwood mutiny of 2003, earlier told ABS-CBN News Trillanes could still be court martialed.

He also accused Trillanes of betraying his comrades by allegedly conniving with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the uprising to fail.

Trillanes and his Magdalo group flatly denied the allegation.

DARK SIDE

The statement signed by Roque and Robles had said it was “time” for the mutineers “to rebuild their lives, and in the process, contribute to rebuilding this nation.”

Also among the signatories were the late Senate President Jovito Salonga and former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former President Joseph Estrada, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos.

The group said the appeal was not intended to “encourage impunity” for the mutineers, who took part in 3 coup attempts against Arroyo.

“It would only be just if the same conciliatory approach is extended to the very same soldiers who have devoted most of their lives in the service of our country and people,” it said.

Roque told ABS-CBN News on Sunday that the statement was made "in the past" and in a "different context."

"The issue now is whether he complied with the requirements of amnesty and not whether he deserved it," he said in a text message.

Last week, Roque admitted he once “admired” Trillanes and the Magdalo mutineers.

“Pero hindi po nagtagal iyon, nawala iyong paghanga ko noong pumayag po siya na maging stooge ni President Aquino ‘no,” he told reporters in Amman, Jordan.

“At ito nga iyong dahilan kung bakit siya nabigyan ng amnesty maski wala siyang application.”

Trillanes on Saturday said his friendship with Roque ended when the former human right lawyer “joined the dark side.”