Zamora offers to quit

Mea culpa.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora offered to resign yesterday as he admitted responsibility for the controversial grant of conditional pardon to convicted priest-killer Norberto Manero Jr. There was no immediate reaction from President Estrada.

"I accept command responsibility. There is no problem with that and I am reporting this morning, and (the President) does not need to tell me that I have to resign," Zamora said.

"I will tell him (Mr. Estrada) that there has been a mistake. It has been done by an office under me. If he feels we should put an end to this, and one way of putting an end to this is to let someone go, then I think I should be the one," Zamora said.

The President, however, rejected last night Zamora's offer to resign, and instructed his chief aide to proceed with the creation of a fact-finding panel to look into the reported inclusion of Manero's name in the pardon list.

At the same time, however, Zamora suspended a member of his legal office, presidential staff officer V Rodela Torregoza, while her immediate superior, lawyer Vic Andrada, went on leave to prepare their defense in an administrative case they are expecting in connection with the Manero foul-up.

Torregoza said Manero's "tearful" wife had followed up the convict's release papers transmitted to Malacañang by the Board of Pardons and Parole. Torregoza said she included Manero's name out of "Christian spirit" and received no favors for it, according to Zamora.

Not satisfied with the explanation, Zamora has ordered his legal office headed by Assistant Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Gaudencio Mendoza Jr. to immediately conduct an internal audit to prevent a repeat of the case.

"We are now conducting a formal investigation on this," Zamora said.

He reiterated he was "absolutely"unaware of the circumstances that led to Manero's inclusion in the list of prisoners to be pardoned.

"I have been kept in the dark and that means also the President has been kept in the dard. Now it is turning out like we are telling lies. That is not our intention, but if that would be its result, then somebody must take responsibility for it," Zamora said.

His bid to step down comes on the heels of President Estrada's unexpected decision to fire his justice secretary, former Supreme Court Justice Serafin Cuevas, over the Manero fiasco, among other reasons.

For his part, Cuevas argued that if the basis for his ouster was the Manero controversy, it stands to reason that Zamora should also be held liable.

The President swore in yesterday Cuevas' replacement, former Court of Appeals Justice Artemio Tuquero.

Zamora made the offer to quit during an early morning radio interview, a few hours before the weekly Cabinet meeting at Malacañang. The President has yet to react to Zamora's move.

Clarifying that he had no intention to embarrass the President, Zamora aired his offer to resign yesterday through a nationally broadcast radio program.

"I'm not passing the buck to the President, but in the first place, what we are only trying to show here is that a Cabinet post is just a temporary one, as in the case of Secretary Cuevas," he said.

Zamora reiterated his willingness to take the blame for the Manero foul-up following release of the initial results of investigation showing that Malacañang officials were aware that the convicted killer of Italian priest Fr. Tullio Favali was among 500 inmates at the state prison who would be granted the traditional Christmas pardon.

He added, however, that he does not expect the President to ask for his resignation.

Presidential Spokesman Fernando Barican took exception to allegations that Cuevas was right in saying he should not be held liable for the grant of pardon to Manero since the release papers did not go through the DOJ but through Zamora's office.

Barican pointed out that the Bureau of Pardons and Parole (BPP) which made last Dec. 16 the recommendation for the release of the 500 prisoners, among them Manero, was under the DOJ.

Barican also clarified that firing a Cabinet member is a prerogative of the President.

Citing news reports saying Zamora was instrumental for Manero's release, Cuevas said he was "very much vindicated."

He said he felt relieved that he does not have to argue his case now since Zamora has owned up to the responsibility.

Cuevas added, however, that he does not wish for Zamora to resign. "I am not as close as he is to the President and there may be other considerations that may dictate his retention. I hope that he is retained," Cuevas said.

He also expressed willingness to get back his Cabinet portfolio in case the President so desires. "It brings prestige, honor and influence and I would be a hypocrite if I tell you now that I'm no longer interested," Cuevas told reporters.

Meanwhile, the Senate committee on justice and human rights will summon Zamora to its hearing next week to shed light on reports that the executive secretary singled out Manero from a list of 28 names recommended for pardon.

"This is new information. We will determine if it is true because it gives a new twist to the pardon of Manero," said committee chairman Sen. Renato Cayetano.

He also cited a testimony of Manero's case officer who admitted she did not interview Manero before recommending his inclusion in the list of prisoners to be given pardon.

Records at the justice department's BPP showed the board recommended the pardon of Manero and 28 other convicts on Dec. 9.

But when the Office of the President finalized the list, only Manero's name was included in the document. The recommendation for parole for the 28 other prisoners was denied.

The priest-killer was also the only convict whose recommendation for parole was drafted in December last year. The recommendations for the other prisoners were drawn up before November 1999.

The President signed the final list on Dec. 16, but it was only this month that Manero's release was published in newspapers.

To prevent a similar scandal, Senate Majority Leader Franklin Drilon proposed the publication of such a list before the President pardons any convicts.

This developed as another convict granted absolute pardon by the President last December turned out to be not among those recommended for executive clemency by the BPP.

A BPP source who requested anonymity said convict Benigno Padilla Urquico's name was not on the list they submitted to Malacañang.

The source admitted they were puzzled how Urquico's name was included in the list.

Urquico was among six convicts granted absolute pardon. He was convicted to life imprisonment for kidnapping with ransom. He was arrested in 1964 and was tried by the Court of First Instance in Rizal province.