FORMER Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos is seeking absolute pardon for his statutory rape conviction after being released from jail eight years ago on commuted sentence.
This came after Jalosjos has applied for executive clemency to regain his full civil and political rights, particularly the restoration of his right to run for election through the revocation of the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office in his 1997 conviction.
Jalosjos, 76, is among the 36 applicants for presidential pardon published by the Board of Pardons and Parole, which is part of the vetting process for the eligibility of the applicants.
“Any interested party may send his/her written objections/comments/information relevant to the cases of above-named prisoners to the undersigned not later than 30 days from date of publication,” BPP executive director Reynaldo Bayang said, in the announcement.
The Department of Justice has administrative supervision over the BPP, which is tasked to screen the applicants for pardon and submit recommendations for approval of the President.
Executive clemency or pardon, which is a power given to the President to pardon any prisoner, provided for under Article VII, Section 19 of the Constitution, pertains to reprieve, absolute or conditional pardon with or without parole conditions, and commutation of sentence.
On the other hand, parole is the conditional release of a prisoner from a correctional institution after the person has served the minimum of his or her sentence.
Jalosjos was convicted by the Makati City Regional Trial Court to serve two life terms for raping an 11-year-old girl twice in 1996.
He was granted clemency in 2007 by then President Gloria Arroyo through commutation of his sentence to 16 years. He was initially released from the New Bilibid Prison in December 2007 after the grant, but was returned to incarceration after a month after it was found that he had not yet completed his commuted sentence.
Jalosjos was finally released from the NBP in March 2009 after serving the maximum sentence of 16 years, three months and three days, as commuted, including additional good conduct time allowance of one year, six months and 17 days.
The former lawmaker joined the mayoralty race in May 2013, but was disqualified by the Commission on Elections.
The Supreme Court upheld his disqualification in June 2013, ruling that the “accessory penalty had not been expressly remitted in the Order of Commutation or by any subsequent pardon and, as such, petitioner’s [Jalosjos’] disqualification to run for elective office is deemed to subsist.”
Earlier this year, Duterte granted pardon to 127 inmates, mostly elderly.