Noynoy slams parole board

Sen. Benigno Simeon Aquino III slammed the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) for reviewing the application for parole of one of the convicted killers of his father.

Responding to the request for comment by BPP executive director Reynaldo Bayang, Aquino reiterated his stand against granting parole on Felizardo Taran.

Aquino cited Taran’s degree of participation in the assassination of his father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

Aquino argued Taran is disqualified for parole under the rules because of the life sentence imposed on the former soldier in the assassination.

Taran, 58, is serving two life imprisonment terms for the killing of Aquino and Rolando Galman in 1986.

Aquino cited Taran’s “brutal complicity in the assassination of his father.”

He said the court noted Taran was among the soldiers who herded Aquino into the police SWAT van following the shooting.

“They lifted the senator and threw him into the SWAT van as though he were a sack of rice. Without as much verifying whether the senator was still alive… Sen. Aquino suffered a depressed fracture on the head which was there for all to see,” Aquino read the portion of the court’s decision.  – Christina Mendez