Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Sunday that concerns raised over the possibility of the President granting pardon to former First Lady Imelda Marcos after she was convicted of graft is “speculative” and premature.”
“Analysts from some sectors have raised the concern of the possibility of the President granting pardon to former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Imelda Marcos following the decision of the Sandiganbayan,” Panelo said in a statement.
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“Such issue not only is speculative but premature as well,” he added.
The Palace official noted that the President’s constitutional authority to grant pardon are for “persons convicted by final judgment,” but “it is not so in the case” with the former first lady as the decision of the anti-graft court has not yet “attained finality.”
“Her (Marcos) lawyers have stated that she will avail of legal remedies available to her to reverse the decision from the same court or higher courts,” Panelo added.
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He also explained that in granting pardon to convicts, President Rodrigo Duterte will “consider the recommendation” of the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), which is an office under the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The BPP, according to Panelo, “looks into the records and studies the circumstances of the person in order to evaluate the latter’s eligibility and entitlement of the President’s act of grace.”
“As matter of course and policy, the President, like his predecessors, weighs in all factors before exercising his right to grant clemencies,” he said.
On Friday, Marcos was found guilty of seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division.
The court found her guilty of seven of the 10 graft cases filed against her from 1991 to 1995 in connection with the Swiss foundations she and her husband had established and used to stash at least $200 million abroad while she was a member of the defunct Batasang Pambansa, Metro Manila governor, and minister of human settlements.
She was sentenced to serve six to 11 years in prison for each count. /ee
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