Teehankee Jr. is supposed to serve at least twenty years in prison. He was meted a double life sentence which means that incarceration should be at the maximum forty years. He could be eligible to a commutation of sentence for good behavior but, under our laws, he should at least serve a majority of the sentence.
In this present issue, Teehankee has not served the majority of his sentence. Therefore, he must still remain in jail.
Gloria, acting as president, commuted his sentence and eventually reduced to zero the years Teehankee is supposed to serve. Malacanang defended Gloria's action, saying that the president has the absolute right to grant pardon and nobody can question it. I post a demurrer.
The Supreme Court can question the circumstances behind the grant of parole but not the legality or the constitutionality of it. The President has the power to grant paroles. However, lest the president be accused of abusing her powers, parole granted must satisfy the requirements of law. Even the president has to bow down to the law.
And this lies the core question--did the president abused her parole powers? In this case, yes. Obviously, Gloria was pressured probably by Manual Teehankee, the brother of Claudio Jr. Or, granting that she was'nt, there's no basis for the grant of pardon, since she should have reviewed the case file thoroughly before making that decision.
Having said that, this case is a classic example of how people occupying the halls of power abuse their powers for their personal or friend's sake. Mayor Lim is right--the law has to favor no one or "no law at all".
And this reminds us how Gloria thinks and acts. The high and mighty really thinks that she's all-powerful, even to bend the laws of the land.
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