In the spirit of Christmas, Noy frees 8 inmates

MANILA, Philippines -  In the spirit of the Christmas season, President Aquino has approved the release of eight convicts from the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

The list, according to a reliable source, is now in the custody of acting Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Rafael Ragos, in light of the resignation letter filed by BuCor chief Gaudencio Pangilinan, which has yet to be acted upon by Aquino.

The eight convicts that Aquino ordered freed came from a list of 40 convicted felons that were recommended for executive clemency for this year by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) under the Department of Justice.

The executive clemency was signed late Friday and furnished to BuCor the next day.

This is only the second time that the President has granted executive clemency to NBP inmates, which was regularly done by his predecessors every Christmas.

The first and only recipient of Aquino’s clemency in July 2011 turned out, ironically, to be a dead man who was afflicted with stage four cancer, and whose release papers were sent to the BuCor belatedly.

He was meted with a life sentence, but only served eight years of the 40-year jail term.

Aquino promised earlier that more convicts would be given a new lease on life during Christmas, when he would announce a longer list of prisoners to be granted pardon or parole, even as he admitted having a hard time approving the BPP recommendations.

He said the good conduct time allowance accorded to convicts must be done away with and that he would prefer the justice system in the US, where a person meted life imprisonment would really spend his lifetime behind bars, without any pardon or parole.

Aquino likewise admitted that he is uncomfortable with the idea of freeing rapists and drug dealers even if they have conducted themselves well in prison.

“We want a more thorough system for vetting and granting of pardons and parole and perhaps, more participation of the offended family,” he said.

Aquino acknowledged having a hard time releasing convicts, which is usual fare for any sitting President every Christmas, mainly because he is not comfortable with the idea of freeing them by way of “automatic discounts” the moment they step into the penitentiary.

He cited the case of the man who killed Robert Kennedy, who remains in jail until now.

“They (US) have a system where you will have to pass through a process where you will explain to the parole board why your rights to go back to the society should reasonably be given back to you,” he said.