Manero’s 2 accomplices also crave for attention

DAVAO CITY — Two of the seven accomplices of Norberto Manero Jr. in the 1985 slaying of Italian priest Tulio Favali could not help but heave a sigh of envy on the special attention Manero has received.

Rudy Linis, 38, and Rodolfo Vedaño, 36, are also asking the government to give attention to their plight, having served 16 years in prison.

"Gusto naming mapansin din kami. Sana bigyan din kami ng pansin. Matagal na kaming naghihirap (We also would like to be given attention. We have been suffering for a long time)," Linis said.

Linis and Vedaño were among the 2,000 inmates of the penal farm here who watched in awe as Manero arrived on board a military chopper last Tuesday afternoon following his surrender. Manero bolted the Sarangani provincial rehabilitation center last month.

But Linis and Vedaño could only shrug their shoulders, saying they were not really that eager to meet Manero again, with whom they used to share a detention cell at the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa. "We didn’t even expect him to be back here," Linis said.

Linis’ brother, Severino, is also detained in the medium security section of the Davao Penal Farm.

Linis and Vedaño were apparently amazed at how Manero managed to get his wishes despite having bolted jail thrice. Before surrendering, Manero demanded that his case be reviewed, and he also got to meet and shake the hand of President Arroyo at Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City.

"Maliit lang ang sentensiya namin, accessories lang kami (We have lighter sentence, we were only accessories)," Linis said. Manero was the main accused in the Favali case, facing charges of murder, attempted murder and arson.

The two convicts, now detained in the minimum security section and who even get to work at the nearby Tadeco banana plantation, said they were not even included in the arson case since it was only Manero who was charged for burning Favali’s motorcycle.

The two insisted that they should have been released from prison after serving their sentence for 16 years. Former President Fidel Ramos commuted their life sentence to 18 years in 1998.

However, Manero, they said, got a better deal when his sentence was commuted in 1992 to only 12 years and was even granted conditional pardon by former President Estrada in 1999.

But Estrada later revoked the conditional pardon after a pending warrant of arrest against Manero was discovered, involving the 1977 killing of brothers Ali and Mamwabtan Mamalumpong.

Linis and Vedaño said that if their "good conduct time allowance" of four years would be applied, they would have already served their sentence more than the prescribed period of 18 years.