2 Pinoys in Spain eye transfer via pact used for Larrañaga

Two Filipinos languishing in Spanish jails might finish serving their terms in the Philippines after they invoked the controversial pact used by convicted rapist-murderer Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga for him to be transferred to the kingdom, the Department of Justice said. The Filipino convicted felons – a man and woman – are doing time for drug-related cases in the said southwest European country, which ruled the Philippines as a colony for 333 years. “We are now in the process of documenting them," acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera told GMANews.TV in an interview on Wednesday. Through the RP-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement, the two prisoners will be able to finish their sentences in the Philippines provided they comply with the requirements stipulated under the treaty, according to Devanadera. The agreement is based on the RP-Spain Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, ratified by the Philippine Senate on November 26, 2007, and by the Spanish Senate, 20 days earlier. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, then chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee who sponsored a resolution for the ratification of the treaty, said in her Nov. 19, 2007 sponsorship speech that the pact “aims to ensure the reformation and rehabilitation of Filipinos detained in Spain." She said that at the time, there were nine Filipinos detained in Spain, seven of whom had been convicted. The first beneficiary of the pact was, however, not a Filipino convicted in Spain, but Larrañaga, who has a dual Filipino and Spanish citizenship. The then 19-year-old Larrañaga, along with six others, was found guilty of abducting, killing, and raping beauty queen Marijoy Chiong, and her sister Jacqueline on July 16, 1997 in Cebu City. Paco, now 32 years old, is the son of former Basque pelotari Manuel Larrañaga, and Margarita Gonzalez, granddaughter of the late President Sergio Osmeña, and a cousin of former senator Sergio Osmeña III. Larrañaga was sentenced to death by lethal injection on February 3, 2004, but was saved by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s abolition of capital punishment on June 24, 2006. Not as soon as Larrañaga But Devanadera said the two prisoners might not be transferred as soon as Larrañaga because they have not yet submitted documents required under the treaty. She said the two must be able to show that there is already a final decision on their cases and they consented to the transfer and paid all the necessary civil liabilities in Spain. “The pace of processing would depend on the pace of submission," Devanadera added. The Spanish Ministry of Justice already approved the transfer of Larrañaga to a penal facility in Spain for him to serve the remainder of his life sentence, according to Devanadera. Larrañaga still has to serve 14 years, nine months and 28 days in prison, taking into account his good conduct time allowance. Devanadera said the DOJ is just awaiting the final notice from the Spanish government for Larrañaga’s transfer. “We are waiting for them to say, ‘you can now transfer him to us’," she said. “But other than that, he will be transferred."[Watch video below to learn more about the Chiong sisters' murder case]
Akbayan Partylist Rep. Walden Bello raised fears that Larrañaga’s transfer would pave the way for the commutation of his sentence. [See: Convict in Chiong rape-murders to be transferred to Spain] But Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said that only the Philippine President could grant a commutation to Larrañaga. “It’s a transfer not a pardon," Romulo told GMANews.TV during the House of Representative’s deliberations on the Department of Foreign Affairs's budget. The treaty is reciprocal and will benefit Filipinos jailed in Spain, according to Romulo. There are at least seven Filipinos languishing in Spanish jails, the DFA chief said. The Philippines entered into similar treaties with Hong Kong, Cuba, Thailand, and Canada, which limits the power of granting pardon, amnesty, or commutation to sentencing states. The Philippines is now aggressively lobbying for similar treaties in the Middle East where 57 more overseas Filipino workers are on death row, according to Romulo. - GMANews.TV