MANILA, Philippines — For President Rodrigo Duterte, carrying unlicensed firearms is a minor offense as long as the firearm is not used.
Duterte issued the remark on Tuesday night during the campaign rally of his party PDP-Laban in Caraga. He introduced one of the party’s senatorial bets, actor Robin Padilla, and recounted how he granted the candidate an absolute pardon.
Padilla was convicted for illegal possession of firearms in 1994. In 1997, he was pardoned by President Ramos and released from jail. But his pardon was not absolute as he did not regain some of his civil and political rights, such as the right to vote, seek public office and the right to travel and be issued a Philippine passport.
“He’s been around for a long time and I’ve been asking him for a long time, “Bakit hindi ka magtakbo [why don’t you run for office]?” In his heart, Robin has a pure heart, no joke. I’m not joking. He’s not like the others who put on an act but you can’t even approach them. Robin remained humble,” Duterte said.
“Sabagay, he was jailed before. But what was his crime? If you put the gun there and avoid fiddling with it, huwag mo lang pakialaman, then there won’t be a problem. Iyon man ang kanyang kaso sa illegal possession,” he added.
Duterte said he reviewed Padilla’s case, reasoning that there is no harm in carrying a gun if it is not used. In 2016, Duterte decided to grant the actor absolute pardon.
“His case and jail time is really nothing. It’s not the same with stealing, mang-holdup. If you don’t use your gun, there’s really no problem with that. It’s a very minor offense, so to speak. For me, it’s a very minor offense. So I pardoned him and that is why he can now run for office,” he added.
The President then said he was the one who prodded Padilla to run for senator as a way of “paying it forward.”
“Now after I pardoned him, I told him, “Bumawi ka. You were jailed so now bumawi ka. You were gone for a long time. Run for senator. And if the people clap for you and the sound of their applause is defeaning, you will win.” That’s true,” he said.
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