|
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Wednesday said a
review of Norberto Manero’s case has shown that there is no more
reason to keep him jailed at the National Bilibid Prisons in
Muntinlupa City.
The Justice secretary on
Wednesday told reporters what he had seen and read in the papers
regarding Manero’s release, and added it should be implemented by
either “today or tomorrow.”
Manero was convicted for killing
Italian priest Tulio Favali of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign
Mission (PIME) in 1985 near the village of La Esperanza in Tulunan,
North Cotabato.
Manero has been in jail for
almost 23 years now and said he was “deeply sorry” for what he
did. He wants to dedicate the rest of his life to serving the poor.
On December 16, 1999,
then-President Joseph Estrada gave Manero conditional pardon. But
after the pardon was heavily criticized by the public, Estrada
revoked it on March 10, 2000, including former President Fidel
Ramos’s order commuting Manero’s sentence from 40 to 24 years.
Estrada made the decision after
the Department of Justice found out that Manero was facing a
separate criminal case for the 1977 slay of Ali and Mambawatan
Mamalumpong.
--Katrice R. Jalbuena
|
