ABUYOG, Leyte - News about the conditional pardon granted to Norberto Manero Jr. upset 53-year-old Efren Pleñago, a fellow convict in the 1995 killing of Italian priest Fr. Tulio Favali.
"It hurts us that Manero was granted freedom. We should have been the ones freed, not him," Pleñago said in Tagalog in an interview with The STAR at the Leyte Regional Prison Center here.
Now Pleñago himself is appealing to Malacañang to pardon him, too. Superintendent Francisco Abonales, the prison's chief, said Pleñago is "already qualified" for conditional pardon.
Pleñago has spent 14 years and nine months in jail. But records showed he was sentenced to a maximum of eight years for another case of attempted murder.
The Kidapawan, North Cotabato court convicted and meted life sentence on Pleñago, Manero and his brothers Edilberto and Elpidio, Roger Bedanio, Roger Espiya and brothers Rudy and Severino Libis for the killing of Fr. Favali in Tulunan, North Cotabato on April 11, 1985.
Edilberto and Elpidio Manero and the Libis siblings are staying at the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, while Bedanio is in the Davao Prison and Penal Farm. Espiya died at the National Penitentiary in 1989 due to health reasons.
Pleñago, who was transferred here from Davao in July 1998, said he was saddened to learn that Manero was released from jail even if he (Manero) was the principal accused in the Favali murder.
He said he, Bedanio and the Libis brothers should have been the ones freed, claiming they were wrongly accused in the killing.
He said he was with his wife Flor and father Ernesto at their home when Favali was shot dead. When he heard the gunfire, he said he called on Bedanio, Espiya and the Libis brothers, who were his neighbors, and they responded to the crime scene, being members of the Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF) in Tulunan that Norberto Manero Jr. headed.
When they reached the place, Pleñago said they were astounded to see Favali's lifeless body. He said they were arrested as accomplices to the killing a month later.
He said there were at least three witnesses - a certain "Bantil," "Reynaldo" and "Doming" - who could identify Manero and his brother Edilberto as the real killers.
Pleñago said the death of Fr. Favali shocked him and his fellow CHDF members because the Italian priest committed no wrong.
He said Norberto Manero was, indeed, feared in Tulunan because he led the so-called Ilaga or Tadtad gang known for having amulets. "Ewan ko lang kung magbabagong-buhay siya (I doubt if he would change)," he said.
Pleñago said the witnesses in the Favali slay case should get government protection because their lives are in danger.
"Kabahan siguro sila basi pamatyon ni Manero, kay kumo nakalaya na siya (They might be worried that Manero would kill them now that he is already free)," he said.
Superintendent Abonales said he will recommend to the Board of Pardon and Parole to study Pleñago's case and commute his sentence.
He said he will request the Kidapawan court to issue a "certificate of no appeal" to qualify Pleñago for pardon.
"Sigurado ako diyan sa commutation. Qualified nan siya (I'm sure of the commutation. He is qualified)," Abonales said.