By Elias L. Espinoza
DOES one have to be a supporter of a president in an election to receive absolute executive clemency?
President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday granted actor Robin Padilla absolute pardon. Padilla was a staunch supporter of Duterte in the last elections even if he is not a qualified voter because he was convicted of a crime.
Padilla was convicted sometime in 1994 for illegal possession of firearms. After three years in jail, then president Fidel V. Ramos granted Padilla conditional pardon but he still lost his civil and political rights.
With the grant of absolute pardon by President Duterte, the civil and political rights of Padilla are restored. Meaning, he can already vote or run for public office in the next political exercise after registering as a voter in his place of residence.
A question was raised if Padilla had applied for executive clemency under the provisions of Act 4103, enacted on Dec. 5, 1933, otherwise known as the Revised Rules and Regulations of the Board of Pardons and Parole.
Under Section 5 of Act 4103, a petition for absolute pardon shall be addressed to the President of the Philippines through the chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole. The petition shall be under oath and shall include the date the petitioner was released from prison after service of sentence or released on parole/pardon.
In the ABS-CBN news that broke the story of Padilla’s absolute pardon by President Duterte, there was no mention that Padilla applied or filed a petition for absolute pardon. Well, President Duterte, a lawyer, is presumed to know what he does.
As president of this Republic, Duterte has the prerogative to grant absolute pardon on Padilla. The President somehow pitied Padilla that because of his conviction he can’t be granted US visa to visit his wife Mariel, who just delivered their first child in the US.
With the grant of absolute pardon on Padilla that restored his civil and political rights, talks are widespread that he would run for congressman or senator in the next elections. Well, that’s the benefit of being a supporter of a sitting president.
Padilla’s absolute pardon that puts him back to where he was also showed the soft side of President Duterte for his friends and supporters.
The convicts who testified during the congressional inquiry on the involvement of Sen. Leila de Lima in the illegal drugs trade inside the New Bilibid Prison must have drooled over Padilla’s absolute pardon.
It was uncovered that some of the convicts who testified during the congressional inquiry have pending applications for parole or pardon with the Board of Pardons and Parole. Only the Board or President Duterte knows if they would be paroled or pardoned.
***
It’s just right that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña took back or withheld the allowance for policemen assigned in Police Station 6 for their failure to stop illegal gambling in their jurisdiction. The allowance these policemen received is people’s money, which is part of the taxes that we residents of Cebu City pay every year to the government.
There are two reasons why Police Station 6 failed to curb illegal gambling in their area of responsibility. One, they are not performing. Two, which is worse, they are protecting illegal gambling dens.
In the annual budget of Cebu City, Cebu City Police Office personnel with ranks of Police Officer (PO) 1 to Senior Police Officer (SPO) 4 get P4,000 a month while those from Police Inspector to Police Chief Inspector get P6,000 each.
Police Station 6 covers the barangays of San Nicolas Proper, Pasil, Suba, Pahina San Nicolas, Sawang Calero and Calamba. Mayor Osmeña complained of too much gambling in these areas. The city mayor suspects of police protection.
Mayor Osmeña said gambling such as moli-moli, video carera and illegal swertres continues to proliferate in the area of responsibility of Police Station 6, particularly in Barangay Sawang Calero. Osmeña also suspects some barangay officials are involved in illegal gambling.
But the city mayor said Police Station 6 will not be singled out. Other police stations will also be evaluated once he gets a report involving their performance.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria, in a report in this paper, already reassigned the police personnel of Police Station 6, which has 56 policemen, four of whom are non-uniformed personnel.
DOES one have to be a supporter of a president in an election to receive absolute executive clemency?
President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday granted actor Robin Padilla absolute pardon. Padilla was a staunch supporter of Duterte in the last elections even if he is not a qualified voter because he was convicted of a crime.
Padilla was convicted sometime in 1994 for illegal possession of firearms. After three years in jail, then president Fidel V. Ramos granted Padilla conditional pardon but he still lost his civil and political rights.
With the grant of absolute pardon by President Duterte, the civil and political rights of Padilla are restored. Meaning, he can already vote or run for public office in the next political exercise after registering as a voter in his place of residence.
A question was raised if Padilla had applied for executive clemency under the provisions of Act 4103, enacted on Dec. 5, 1933, otherwise known as the Revised Rules and Regulations of the Board of Pardons and Parole.
Under Section 5 of Act 4103, a petition for absolute pardon shall be addressed to the President of the Philippines through the chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole. The petition shall be under oath and shall include the date the petitioner was released from prison after service of sentence or released on parole/pardon.
In the ABS-CBN news that broke the story of Padilla’s absolute pardon by President Duterte, there was no mention that Padilla applied or filed a petition for absolute pardon. Well, President Duterte, a lawyer, is presumed to know what he does.
As president of this Republic, Duterte has the prerogative to grant absolute pardon on Padilla. The President somehow pitied Padilla that because of his conviction he can’t be granted US visa to visit his wife Mariel, who just delivered their first child in the US.
With the grant of absolute pardon on Padilla that restored his civil and political rights, talks are widespread that he would run for congressman or senator in the next elections. Well, that’s the benefit of being a supporter of a sitting president.
Padilla’s absolute pardon that puts him back to where he was also showed the soft side of President Duterte for his friends and supporters.
The convicts who testified during the congressional inquiry on the involvement of Sen. Leila de Lima in the illegal drugs trade inside the New Bilibid Prison must have drooled over Padilla’s absolute pardon.
It was uncovered that some of the convicts who testified during the congressional inquiry have pending applications for parole or pardon with the Board of Pardons and Parole. Only the Board or President Duterte knows if they would be paroled or pardoned.
***
It’s just right that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña took back or withheld the allowance for policemen assigned in Police Station 6 for their failure to stop illegal gambling in their jurisdiction. The allowance these policemen received is people’s money, which is part of the taxes that we residents of Cebu City pay every year to the government.
There are two reasons why Police Station 6 failed to curb illegal gambling in their area of responsibility. One, they are not performing. Two, which is worse, they are protecting illegal gambling dens.
In the annual budget of Cebu City, Cebu City Police Office personnel with ranks of Police Officer (PO) 1 to Senior Police Officer (SPO) 4 get P4,000 a month while those from Police Inspector to Police Chief Inspector get P6,000 each.
Police Station 6 covers the barangays of San Nicolas Proper, Pasil, Suba, Pahina San Nicolas, Sawang Calero and Calamba. Mayor Osmeña complained of too much gambling in these areas. The city mayor suspects of police protection.
Mayor Osmeña said gambling such as moli-moli, video carera and illegal swertres continues to proliferate in the area of responsibility of Police Station 6, particularly in Barangay Sawang Calero. Osmeña also suspects some barangay officials are involved in illegal gambling.
But the city mayor said Police Station 6 will not be singled out. Other police stations will also be evaluated once he gets a report involving their performance.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria, in a report in this paper, already reassigned the police personnel of Police Station 6, which has 56 policemen, four of whom are non-uniformed personnel.
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