Parole board urged to reject clemency for Go
September 9, 2006 | 12:00am
Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio is urging the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) not to favor and recommend the instant petition for executive clemency filed by convicted murderer Rolito Go.
In his four-page opposition which was received by the BPP last Friday, Villa-Ignacio, who was then the public prosecuting attorney on the case, said Go has not shown remorse for the July 2, 1991 shooting of Eldon Maguan, then a 25-year-old graduating student of the De La Salle University during a traffic altercation in Greenhills, San Juan.
Go was convicted of murder by Pasig Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pelayo in November 1993 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also ordered Go to give the Maguan family P3.6 million as indemnification.
It would be recalled that Go escaped from detention on Oct. 31, 1993 and was recaptured on April 30, 1996 while hiding in a remote barangay in Lubao, Pampanga.
STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc had revealed in his column that Go had sent to Malacañang a petition for executive clemency.
According to Bondoc, Go, through his lawyers, sent the letter dated Dec. 2, 2005 informing the Palace that after spending 13 years and 13 days in prison, their client has already been rehabilitated.
"Prisoner Go is a menace to society. Go has not erased all doubts that he would not be a threat to society if set free again," Villa-Ignacio said.
In addition, he told the Parole Board that Go has yet to indemnify the Maguan family as ordered by the court.
"Prisoner Go could have by now settled his civil liability. But to the undersigned’s knowledge, Go has not complied with the judgment rendered by the trial court for him to pay P50,000 indemnity, P247,407.70 actual or compensatory damages, P3, 312, 000 for compensable earnings, P50,000 moral damages, and P20,000 exemplary damages," he said.
According to Villa-Ignacio, the refusal of Go to indemnify the Maguan family is "fatal" for his petition and would effectively bar a favorable recommendation from the BPP.
"Prisoner Go has not offered any reason or excuse why despite his known resources, and coming from a well-off family, he had refused and continue to refuse to comply with the judgment rendered," he said.
Meanwhile, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman Dante Jimenez backed the move opposing a petition for commutation in favor of Go.
"We agree with Special Prosecutor Villa-Ignacio. Go must serve the full sentence. We hope President Arroyo will not allow a commutation," he told The Star.
Jimenez added that Congress must also look into this pattern of granting commutation to convicted criminals regardless of their sentences or gravity of offenses committed.
"Congress must adopt a law that requires the executive branch of government to ask or consult victims before granting parole or pardon. The present system is pro-criminal," he stressed. – With Michael Punongbayan
In his four-page opposition which was received by the BPP last Friday, Villa-Ignacio, who was then the public prosecuting attorney on the case, said Go has not shown remorse for the July 2, 1991 shooting of Eldon Maguan, then a 25-year-old graduating student of the De La Salle University during a traffic altercation in Greenhills, San Juan.
Go was convicted of murder by Pasig Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pelayo in November 1993 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also ordered Go to give the Maguan family P3.6 million as indemnification.
It would be recalled that Go escaped from detention on Oct. 31, 1993 and was recaptured on April 30, 1996 while hiding in a remote barangay in Lubao, Pampanga.
STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc had revealed in his column that Go had sent to Malacañang a petition for executive clemency.
According to Bondoc, Go, through his lawyers, sent the letter dated Dec. 2, 2005 informing the Palace that after spending 13 years and 13 days in prison, their client has already been rehabilitated.
"Prisoner Go is a menace to society. Go has not erased all doubts that he would not be a threat to society if set free again," Villa-Ignacio said.
In addition, he told the Parole Board that Go has yet to indemnify the Maguan family as ordered by the court.
"Prisoner Go could have by now settled his civil liability. But to the undersigned’s knowledge, Go has not complied with the judgment rendered by the trial court for him to pay P50,000 indemnity, P247,407.70 actual or compensatory damages, P3, 312, 000 for compensable earnings, P50,000 moral damages, and P20,000 exemplary damages," he said.
According to Villa-Ignacio, the refusal of Go to indemnify the Maguan family is "fatal" for his petition and would effectively bar a favorable recommendation from the BPP.
"Prisoner Go has not offered any reason or excuse why despite his known resources, and coming from a well-off family, he had refused and continue to refuse to comply with the judgment rendered," he said.
Meanwhile, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman Dante Jimenez backed the move opposing a petition for commutation in favor of Go.
"We agree with Special Prosecutor Villa-Ignacio. Go must serve the full sentence. We hope President Arroyo will not allow a commutation," he told The Star.
Jimenez added that Congress must also look into this pattern of granting commutation to convicted criminals regardless of their sentences or gravity of offenses committed.
"Congress must adopt a law that requires the executive branch of government to ask or consult victims before granting parole or pardon. The present system is pro-criminal," he stressed. – With Michael Punongbayan
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