39 convicts get certificates of pardon

The elderly inmates are treated to dinner by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II at the DOJ compound after receiving their certificates of pardon. DOJ

Some 39 convicts have received their certificates of conditional and commutation pardons in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order granting executive clemency to 127 convicts.

“This is in line with the President’s pronouncement to decongest the high volume of PDLs (persons deprived of liberty), relatively bigger than what our prison facilities can accommodate and the prompt release of deserving prisoners for parole, pardon, and the end of sentence with correct computations of good conduct and allowances,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in a statement.

The 39 names came following the March 9 meeting held by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) which is chaired by Aguirre.

The DOJ Secretary also said that he made the recommendations for presidential pardon upon endorsement by the BPP after reviewing the eligibility of the inmates on the list.

Aguirre said those discharged on parole “shall be automatically released from prison upon the award of the papers to them.”

While out on parole, the parolees will be placed under the supervision of the DOJ’s Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) until they reached the maximum period of their prison sentences.

However, the DOJ warned that any violation of the parole conditions “shall be a ground for recommitment in prison upon the recommendation of PPA and approval of the BPP (Board of Pardons and Parole).”

Executive clemency is a power of the President to pardon any prisoner, provided for under Article VII, Section 19 of the Constitution and pertains to reprieve, absolute or conditional pardon with or without parole conditions and commutation of sentence.

Parole on the other hand is the conditional release of a prisoner from a correctional institution after he or she has served the minimum of his or her sentence.

No high profile inmates were on the list.