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A Japanese national, who was convicted for raping a baby girl, is
the latest recipient of Malacañang’s “conditional pardon,”
paving the way for his release from the National Penitentiary in
Muntinlupa City and his immediate deportation after serving only for
six years in jail.
The Bureau of Immigration on Friday said
71-year-old Yukitoshi Matsushita, who was convicted and jailed for
raping a seven-month-old girl in Parañaque City seven years ago,
was granted pardon on humanitarian grounds because of his advanced
age.
President Gloria Arroyo earlier ordered the
review of cases of inmates aged 70 years and above.
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan
presented Matsushita to newsmen hours before he was deported to
Japan aboard a Philippine Airlines flight to Nagoya.
Matsushita was deported pursuant to a summary
deportation order that the Immigration board of commissioners issued
against him on February 21, 2002. He was also placed in the
immigration blacklist and banned from reentering the Philippines.
“We have decided to immediately deport him
because he is an undesirable alien who does not deserve the
privilege to remain in the Philippines any longer,” Libanan said.
Records show that Matsushita raped and sexually
abused the seven-month-old niece of his live-in partner at their
residence in Sucat, Parañaque on October 1, 2001. He was convicted
by a Parañaque court to 10 to 14 years in prison.
Matshushita has been languishing in jail since
February 14, 2002 after he was arrested by Immigration intelligence
operatives before he was to be released from the Parañaque City
jail after posting bail.
-- William B. Depasupil
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