MANILA, Philippines – With the list of inmates awaiting President Benigno Aquino III’s pardon still pending approval, Malacañang on Friday said it can’t assure good news any time soon.
“Ayaw ko naman pong mangako. Ang puwede ho nating masabi po sa kanila ay tinitingnan po natin nang masinsinan lahat po ng kasong dumadaan at mga request po natin para sa executive clemency,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said during a Palace briefing.
(I don’t want to promise anything. What we can say is that we are thoroughly studying all the cases and requests for executive clemency.)
Valte said Aquino specifically instructed his staff to carefully study the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) under the Department of Justice.
She said Aquino also wanted to notify the families of the offended parties.
“So it’s part of the process also that the President has put in place and we will give updates as soon as they come… Officially, it is still all under review,” she said
The eldest inmate of the Correctional Institute for Women, 91-year-old Petra Lukingan, was released on Friday morning. The BPP granted parole application after she stayed in jail more than three years or more than threefold her minimum sentence.
While an executive clemency pertains to absolute or conditional pardon without parole conditions or commutation of sentence, a parole refers to conditional release of a prisoner.
Up for clemency are elderly and terminally ill inmates.
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