Clemency? New Bilibid Prison inmate Engelberto Durano (in blue) testifies during the House committee on justice’s inquiry on the illegal drug trade inside Bilibid.
Senator Leila de Lima said she would not be surprised if the executive clemency being sought by the five convicts who testified against her in the House of Representatives would be granted in exchange for their “false testimonies.”
De Lima noted that based on the copy of the letter from the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), there seemed to be nothing “suspicious” about the applications for parole by the convicts as they had been pending even before they testified at the House inquiry.
“However, I certainly hope that the possible grant of these applications for executive clemency aren’t being peddled as a form of ‘bayad-utang’ or incentive for testifying against me,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
“If that should turn out to be the case, though, I doubt anyone would be surprised. I certainly am not,” she said. “After everything we’ve seen and heard, what would be so surprising about executive clemency being exchanged for false testimonies against me? I, whom the President apparently hates with a vengeance?”
De Lima said she would not also be surprised if the immunity granted to the convicts, who testified at the House probe, was just the “down-payment for telling lies under oath, and participating in such a kangaroo probe revolving around my alleged sex life and the absolutely absurd claim that I am involved in the drug trade.”
“But the Office of the President would have to be collectively insane to actually go through with it. It can’t be that stupid. I can’t possibly think that the Filipino people wouldn’t recognize a devil’s bargain…,” she said.
The five witnesses who have pending applications for executive clemency or pardon are the following:
Engelberto Durano—Carpeta requested Oct. 27, 2015
Nonilo Arile—Carpeta requested Jan. 25, 2011
Jaime Patcho—Carpeta returned to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on April 15, 2016 as requested by the BuCor
Jojo Baligad—For verification of pending criminal cases per his record with the National Bureau of Investigation
Vicente Sy—for verification of other pending cases/rga
READ: Bilibid convicts vs De Lima sought pardon during Aquino’s time
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