Noy grants pardon to 8 elderly Bilibid inmates

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced yesterday President Aquino has approved the release of eight elderly inmates from the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City after the prisoners were granted pardon.

De Lima said the aging inmates who were granted conditional pardon were: Clarita Miranda, 71, Agustin Caballero, 71, Nicanor Medel, 72, Pablito Estrada, 73, Felipe Gahit, 72, and Venerando Generalo, 83.

In the pardon signed by the President last Dec. 21, the six were ordered released from the national penitentiary on the condition that they “shall indulge in no injurious or vicious habits, avoid places or persons of disreputable of harmful character, and shall not commit any crime and shall conduct themselves in an orderly manner.”

“Violation of any of the conditions thus stated shall result in their respective sentences being imposed in full force and effect,” De Lima explained.

Five of the six pardoned inmates left the NBP last Dec. 22. One of the inmates was still waiting for his boat trip to the province.

Two other elderly inmates – Aurelio Amolong, 85, and Celerino Sanchez, 82 – were also released on the same day after they were granted commutation of sentence.

Amolong was convicted of homicide in Bohol and sentenced to six to 10 years in prison. The President commuted his prison term to four years and nine months, but his obligation to pay death indemnity of P50,000 stood.

Sanchez, on the other hand, was also convicted of homicide in Zamboanga City and sentenced to imprisonment of eight to 15 years.

His sentence was commuted to five to 10 years and he was also required to pay death indemnity of P165,000.

This is the first time Aquino granted executive clemency to NBP inmates during the Christmas season.

In July last year, he granted for the first time executive clemency to Mariano Umbrero, a cancer-stricken inmate sentenced to life in prison.

It, however, turned out to be too late as Umbrero died when his release papers were signed.

The grant of pardon did not include the five men convicted for the 1996 killing of police colonel Rolando Abadilla, chief of police’s defunct Metropolitan Command Intelligence and Security Group, dubbed as the “Abadilla 5.”

“My recommendation for their release is still under study by the Office of the President,” De Lima explained.