Noynoy opposes pardon

SEN. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III yesterday slammed the pardon being considered for one of the 13 convicts in the murder of his father the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and his alleged assassin Rolando Galman.

Aquino said Airman 1st Class Felizardo Taran, 58, does not deserve a parole since he and the other convicts, including released M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez, never admitted their crime. "Pardon is a privilege kaya ang tao, dapat worthy of the privilege. They should not be entitled of that privilege," Aquino said.

"At saka yung element of remorse, I was informed that after Martinez was released, nagkaroon ng handaan and nandoon si (Public Attorneys Office chief Persida) Acosta. I don’t know for what purpose ang presence niya roon," Aquino bared.

"Yung mga pumatay sa tatay, ko they maintained that it was Galman who killed my father. Pero alam naman ng sambayanan that it was a cover-up," he said.

Aquino also questioned the computation made by the Board of Pardon and Parole on the number of years served by Taran in prison.

BPP executive director Reynaldo Bayang said Taran "has already served 29 years and 8 months, including good conduct time allowance and credit for preventive imprisonment of six years, three months and 18 days."

But BPP records showed that Taran, sentenced to two life terms, was only received at the National Bilibid Prisons on June 10, 1990 and began serving his sentence on Sept. 28, 1990, or 17 years ago.

"Paano nangyari yun? Namatay ang tatay ko 1983. Ibig sabihin nakulong si Taran, four years bago nila barilin ang daddy ko," Aquino said, pointing out that even if Taran was detained after his father’s death, he could have only served 24 years of his term.

"Na-commute na ang penalty (by President Ramos in 1998) to a minimum of 29 years to 34 years maximum, hindi pa nasi-serve ang minimum ng one count of reclusion perpetua, may parole na," Aquino said. "Dapat, parole should take effect, with all the allowances such as good conduct, after the minimum sentence was served."

He said there are other people at the National Bilibid Prisons who deserve to be granted parole, such as 92-year-old Dolores Baguio who was sentenced to life for murder, and 74-year-old Cornelius Sindac who was convicted of qualified theft.

"Ito ngang si Sindac, 74 years na, for a petty and private offense of qualified theft, nagnakaw lang ng buko, ayaw pang pawalan," he said.