SC's help sought on rape-slay convict's transfer to Spain

An anti-crime group on Monday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the impending transfer of rape-slay convict Juan Larrañaga to Spain. The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) warned that Larrañaga’s transfer would mark a "very dangerous precedent" that might make the country's judiciary system impotent. "I ask now the Supreme Court to intervene. Napapahiya ang judicial system dito, bastusan na ito. Hindi ko pwede tanggapin ang mamamatay-tao na magpapakasasa sa Spain. Di natin alam kung makakawala o hindi," VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez said in an interview on dzXL radio. (I ask the Supreme Court to intervene. The judicial system may be put to shame because this is too brazen. I can't accept that a murderer can stay in comfort in Spain. We don't know if he might go free or not.) Larrañaga, now 32, and six others were convicted of kidnapping, illegal detention, rape and homicide in connection with the abduction, rape and death of the sisters Jacqueline and Marijoy Chiong in Cebu in 1997. He still has to serve 14 years, nine months and 28 days in prison, taking into account his good conduct time allowance. The victims’ mother, Thelma Chiong, expressed anger over the transfer. Jimenez said it was "saddening" that the transfer was approved quickly, noting that Philippine-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement seemed to be "tailor-made" for him. He said that while the VACC had advocated submitting to the judicial system, it could not accept that a treaty would allow the country’s judicial system to be bypassed. "We always submit ourselves to the process of the judicial system. But kung gagawin natin palusutan because of treaty-treaty, wala tayong independence," he said. (We always submit ourselves to the judicial system. But if we allow loopholes because of treaties like this, then there's no independence.) A Malacañang official meanwhile said the government is open to the possibility of reviewing the treaty amid the uproar caused by Larrañaga’s impending transfer. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo however said the public should consider the benefits of the treaty, particularly to overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Spain. “We should balance the benefits of the treaty to OFWs serving sentence abroad. We won’t really know in the end. In the future we might need this kind of agreement. There is a good reason our authorities and the Spanish government signed this in the first place," she said. - GMANews.TV