If President Rodrigo Duterte grants pardon to former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, it will give the justice system in the country a “bad image” globally, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said on Monday.
Granting Marcos with a presidential pardon “will give us a bad image, not only within the country but even outside the country,” Diokno said over an interview at ABS CBN News Channel.
Marcos was found guilty of seven courts of graft by the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division last Friday.
READ: Imelda Marcos guilty of graft, ordered arrested
While concerns over the President granting pardon to Marcos are, according to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, “speculative” and “premature,” Diokno said however that it is a “very real possibility.”
“It is a very real possibility, unfortunately, and we have to make our voices heard. We have to find ways to convince the administration that [the President] shouldn’t do it,” he said.
READ: Palace on possible Imelda pardon: ‘Speculative and premature’
Diokno said the President’s power to grant pardon should be checked as it has been abused before, adding that he hopes Marcos would not abuse it.
“Pardon is one of the powers that I think we have to find a way to put a check on, because it has been abused historically, and I really hope it will not be abused in this particular case,” he said. /je