President Estrada has revoked the pardon he granted to priest-killer Norberto Manero Jr. following a revelation that the convict had another criminal charge pending against him.
The cancellation of the pardon as well as the commutation of sentence that opened the door for clemency was ordered by the President based on a recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP).
Manero, a leader of a paramilitary anti-insurgency unit in South Cotabato, was convicted in 1987 for killing Italian priest Tullio Favali. Manero has denied eating Favali's brain.
Malacañang said Mr. Estrada's action was partly in response to petitions filed by religious groups that had been calling for Manero's pardon to be withdrawn.
In canceling the pardon, Mr. Estrada said the executive clemency granted to Manero could be overturned because the BPP, which recommended his pardon, was not aware the convict still faced an outstanding warrant for a separate kidnapping and double-murder case.
This means the convict will have to serve 23 years of the total 45 years meted on him for the killing of Favali. Before his release, Manero had already served 18 years in the national penitentiary.
A commutation of sentence was issued in February 1998 by then President Fidel Ramos. Last December, Manero was pardoned along with 500 others by the President as part of a holiday gesture.
Mr. Estrada, who was harshly criticized for the action, later said he was not aware Manero's name was included in the list of those to be pardoned.
The Catholic Church and legislators called for Manero's pardon to be withdrawn but the government initially said it could not be reversed.
Manero voluntarily surrendered to police last week after the General Santos City regional trial court issued an outstanding warrant of arrest against him and his wife in connection with the kidnapping and murder of two Muslim brothers in 1977. He has been ordered to be returned to jail to face trial next week.
Malacañang said the consent given by the state on the executive clemency had been vitiated by the fact that the BPP would not have recommended pardon if it had been aware of the case.
Following the Manero controversy, lawmakers have called for a review in the system of granting pardon and parole to convicts.
In a related development, Sen. Renato Cayetano revealed yesterday that even former President Corazon Aquino had been misled into granting absolute pardon to an ineligible convict "because the BPP failed to observe due diligence."
Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said that on Aug. 10, 1988, the former president granted absolute pardon to one Renato Asegura whose case was then still pending before the Court of Appeals (CA).
The senator said he discovered this information while going over documents submitted to his panel by the BPP. Cayetano's committee had earlier required the BPP to submit past case documents in the course of its probe on the controversial Manero pardon.
"Asegura, who had been convicted of robbery with homicide, was granted pardon even before the CA could rule on his appeal. Under the law, convicts with pending cases are not eligible for pardon," Cayetano pointed out.
The CA dismissed the case against Asegura in September 1995 --and judgment entered into the records in March 1999 --seven years after the convict had been pardoned.
"Once more, there is miscarriage of justice because of the failure of government officials to exercise diligence in performing their duties," Cayetano said.
He warned that unless government officials become more thorough, more ineligible convicts would be receiving executive clemency.