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By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter
Convicted priest killer Norberto Manero Jr., 63,
was released from prison on Friday after Justice Secretary Raul
Gonzalez issued a ruling affirming the commutation of Manero’s
sentence. The convict had spent 23 years in jail.
Lawyer Persida Acosta, chief of the Public
Attorney’s Office, had to wait for three hours at the Department
of Justice before Gonzalez finally signed the endorsement to
Director Oscar Calderon of the Bureau of Corrections. The
endorsement orders Manero’s immediate release from the New Bilibid
Prisons in Muntinlupa City in southern Metro Manila.
After getting the order from the Justice
department, Acosta immediately went to Muntinlupa and arrived there
at 4 p.m. Manero’s papers were processed and at past 5 p.m.,
Manero together with his wife Evelyn were presented to the media by
Acosta and Julio Arciaga, acting superintendent of the prison. At
5:30 p.m., Manero was freed after Arciaga signed his release order.
Wearing a white polo barong, Manero was visibly
weak because of hypertension and a lumbo-sacral spine abnormality
that have been bugging him. Because of the media coverage, Dr. Erwin
Erfe, doctor of the public attorneys, had to take Manero’s blood
pressure and ordered him to take medicine.
Acosta said Manero needs immediate medical
attention, and there are doctors who have volunteered to treat
Manero for free.
She added that Erfe recommended that Manero
should undergo surgery to correct his back problem.
Erfe told The Manila Times that Manero should
undergo CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Manero and his two brothers and four others were
convicted of killing Italian priest Fr. Tullio Favali on April 11,
1985, in San Labrador Parish in Tulunan, North Cotabato.
Talking in Filipino, Manero thanked all those
who helped him. He specifically mentioned Acosta and the Bureau
of Corrections.
On December 11, 2007, Manero’s wife, Evelyn,
wrote Acosta to ask her to help in her husband’s immediate
release.
“In behalf of my husband, I would like to ask
for legal assistance for his immediate release,” Evelyn said in
the letter. This started Acosta’s quest to free Manero.
After his release, Manero said he does not have
definite plans yet but added that he will concentrate on farming and
tilling lands in North Cotabato and South Cotabato.
His relatives were at the prison early Friday to
witness his release from the national penitentiary.
Janice Original, Manero’s grandchild, said a
simple party was set Friday night to celebrate her grandfather’s
release from prison. Janice’s father, Eugenio, became Manero’s
first lawyer in the Favali case. The child said they were all very
happy that finally Manero would come home.
Manero belied and denied the story that he ate
Fr. Favali’s brains.
Referring to Favali, he said, “Hindi ho ako
kumain ng utak [I didn’t eat brains].”
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