For a Pasig City judge, a miscalculation on the date of execution of three convicted kidnappers gave them an unintended reprieve.
The judge unwittingly gave the three convicts a 190-day lease on life, according to Socorro "Cookie" Diokno, secretary-general of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).
"The judge realized his own miscalculation," Diokno said. " According to the rules, a death convict whose execution has been affirmed by the Supreme Court should be put into the lethal (injection) chamber 12 to 18 months after the finality of the judgment."
Diokno told The STAR yesterday that Pasig City regional trial court Judge Pablito Roxas released a new warrant to cover his mistake of scheduling the execution on Feb. 12 of the three convicts he had sentenced to death last year.
Roxas issued an order postponing the execution of the three convicts to Aug. 20.
Diokno explained the date of execution would be considered final if the defense did not make any appeal within 15 days after the Supreme Court finally affirms the death sentence. In legal terms, the finality of execution is referred to as "entry of judgment."
From the date of finality, Diokno said, the convict can be executed only after a year.
She said the date of execution should be set within the period of at least one year and six months after the death sentence is affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Once the Supreme Court affirms the sentence and no appeal is made within 15 days, the entry of judgment will be transmitted to the lower court to schedule the execution.
"But in the this case, the judge issued their warrant (or date) of execution earlier than the prescribed period." Diokno said.
Diokno pointed out it would be a violation of the rules if the three convicted kidnappers were executed on Feb. 12 considering the requirement of one year from the finality of the judgment. "So, the judge moved the warrant (for execution) on Aug. 20," she said.
New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Superintendent Venancio Tesoro admitted yesterday that he also made a mistake in identifying the Supreme Court as the source of the resolution moving the Feb. 12 execution to August this year.
"It was an honest mistake. I was reading a Supreme Court decision at the time of the interview kaya yun ang nasabi ko sa iyo," he told The STAR.
Tesoro said he had already obtained a copy of Roxas’ decision moving the execution on Aug. 20.
At the same time, Tesoro urged the media against releasing the names of the convicts scheduled for execution.
He said that under the rules, a death convict should only be informed of his or her execution on the very day itself.
"But because of intensive research, media people are able to discover the names and disclose them to the public," Tesoro said.
Tesoro, however, admitted, that if the rules are strictly followed, many media practitioners would be penalized.
"There is a reason for the rule," Tesoro said. "And violating it would make our efforts here futile."
He said that 15 days before the scheduled execution, the convict should be isolated with nine other death row inmates.
Tesoro said there must be 10 death row prisoners in the isolation area where the convict himself would not know he is the one to be executed.
"But this is useless because they (the media) know even earlier that they (the death convicts) are the ones who are set to die," Tesoro said.
He said this specific violation of the rule greatly affects the convicts who are set to die by lethal injection.
"Of course, their agony would heighten and their families would be affected the most," Tesoro said.
"Weeks before a convict’s date of execution, he would be considered dead already," he added.
Tesoro claimed they have been very strict in implementing the rule at the NBP but all of the security precautions have been compromised because of "leakage... in transit."
He was referring to the lower courts and the Department of Justice (DOJ), which inadvertently become the sources of reports identifying the death convicts.
"But I am sure that we here at the NBP never released the names of the death convicts," Tesoro said. "In fact, we are left with the role of disclaiming those reports."
But sometimes, there are instances where the media become "unmanageable," Tesoro said, citing one instance when ABS-CBN aired the faces of death convict Roberto Lara during an interview inside the death row building at the NBP’s maximum security compound.
"The rules do not allow media to go inside the maximum security compound," Tesoro said, reminding reporters to interview the families of death convicts outside the premises of the national penitentiary.
A report over dzBB radio, citing the DOJ as source, bared the names of death convicts as well the dates of their executions this month.
According to the report, executions are scheduled on Feb. 10, 12, 15, 19 and 25. Most of the convicts were found guilty of rape and murder.
There are 989 inmates on the NBP’s death row, 168 of whose sentences have been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Twenty-two are lined up for execution this year, including Lara and Roderick Licayan.
The Supreme Court granted the appeal made by Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta to suspend the executions of Lara and Licayan on the basis of newly found evidence that could spare them from the lethal injection chamber and remand their cases to the lower courts for retrial.
The high tribunal said it would decide within 30 days whether to order a retrial or sustain the conviction of Lara and Licayan.
FLAG lawyers have argued that there were some "unclear issues" on the Supreme Court’s decision to grant the 30-day reprieve.
They cited for example the issue on who would set the warrant of execution of Lara and Licayan if the Supreme Court finally denies the appeal made by PAO.
"Because apparently, officials at NBP view the denial (of PAO’s appeal) as tantamount to immediate execution of the two convicts," Diokno said. - With Nikko Dizon