US: No pardon for Rowe killers

US authorities have asked President Arroyo not to pardon the two convicted killers of US Army Col. James Rowe.

An official of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who requested anonymity, told The STAR yesterday the US Embassy had sent another diplomatic note requesting that Donato Continente and Juanito "Ka Juaning" Itaas be excluded from the list of political prisoners that Mrs. Arroyo plans to pardon.

Earlier, former US ambassador to Manila Thomas Hubbard reiterated the same position in a meeting with Mrs. Arroyo and foreign affairs officials.

US Embassy Public Affairs section chief Michael Anderson told The STAR yesterday the US position will not change as the Supreme Court of the Philippines had already affirmed a lower court decision convicting the two communist hitmen.

"We do not want these people released," he said. "Your courts have twice convicted them and we just follow the ruling of the Philippine Supreme Court. We hope the (Philippine) government understands this is an old issue."

Continente and Itaas were jailed for life for the murder of Rowe, who was deputy commander of the Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) in 1989.

Continente was recommended for pardon during the Ramos administration after the Supreme Court had downgraded his participation in the murder from principal to accomplice.

Continente’s prison term was later commuted from a maximum of 17 years to a minimum 12 years and six months, while Itaas was continued to be seen as a principal in the killing of Rowe.

In 1989, Rowe and his driver were driving into the JUSMAG headquarters in Quezon City when they were ambushed by a hit squad from the Alex Boncayao Brigade. – Aurea Calica