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By Jomar Canlas Reporter
BUSINESSMAN Charlie “Atong”
Ang will be “a free man” anytime soon when the Sandiganbayan
grants him his petition for probation. The favorable decision,
an incontrovertible source of The Manila Times said, will “be
handed down any day now.”
To be qualified for the probation
he prayed the Sandiganbayan to grant him, Ang paid P25 million in
manager’s checks to the Sandiganbayan Special Division.
Ang had pleaded guilty to the
lesser charge of corrupting public officials. He could now become a
state witness and be removed as a co-accused in the plunder charge
against Estrada.
He was convicted of the lesser
crime and sentenced to a minimum of two years and a maximum of six
years in prison and ordered to pay the Philippine state P25 million.
Complying with the payment of P25
million is a requisite for his petition for probation to be given
due course by the Sandiganbayan.
A probationer does not stay in
prison. Like a parolee, a probationer is virtually a free man who
must report to his probation officer regularly.
Probation can only be granted
to convicted felons whose prison sentence is six years or less. A
probationer reports to his probation officer every month and must
conduct himself as a person of good moral character.
After a time, usually two years,
on the probation officer’s recommendation, the court could decide
to widen the intervals between the convict’s face-to-face
appearances before his probation officer.
A probationer who does not run
afoul of the law and wins the respect of his probation officer is
almost like a free man. Real freedom becomes his only on completion
of the time stated in the prison sentence. The court can decide on
completely freeing Ang even before his minimum sentence of two years
has elapsed.
Ang had originally offered his
Corinthian Gardens mansion to pay for the P25-million civil
liability imposed on him by the court but the Sandiganbayan
insisted on cash.
He was able to produce it, The
Times learned, by making a loan from his mother. He managed to pay
the P25 million before the court’s April 3 deadline.
It surprised observers that Ang
could raise the amount because he had earlier manifested before the
Sandiganbayan that he did not have the cash.
No medical examination
Yesterday, Monday April 16, Ang
should have been brought to a hospital for medical examination. The
antigraft court however did not issue the formal order.
Sandiganbayan Sheriff Eduardo
Urieta said while the court approved Ang’s motion for medical
treatment it did not issue the formal order.
Ang wanted to undergo medical
treatment outside his detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig
City, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. Ang wished
to have his check-up at the Metropolitan Medical Center in Binondo,
Manila, and his motion was approved by the Sandiganbayan in open
court hearing.
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