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Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said today that the executive clemency granted to murder-convict Claudio Teehankee Jr. went through the proper process and there was no secrecy behind the pardon contrary to the claims in some quarters.

In his weekly press conference in Malacanang this afternoon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita stressed that the decision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to grant pardon to Teehankee was based on the merit and that the rules governing the grant of executive clemency to prisoners were strictly followed.

Teehankee was convicted in 1992 by the Regional Trial Court of Makati for the murder of Maureen Hultman, the homicide of Roland Chapman, and the frustrated murder of Jussi Leino.

Ermita pointed out that contrary to allegations that Teehankee was granted pardon in secrecy, the Board of Pardons and Parole advertised in the Philippine Star way back on Feb. 6, 2004 a notice that the cases of 16 prisoners, including Teehankee, would be reviewed “for the purpose of considering them for Parole/Executive Clemency.”

Teehankee’s actual length of time served in prison totaled 17 years, two months and nine days. Based on the time served for good conduct, he would be considered to have served a total of 21 years, three months and five days in prison, Ermita said.

The Executive Secretary revealed that on Nov. 11, 1999, Teehankee and the Hultmans executed a settlement agreement in which Teehankee and his family sold, ceded, and assigned “all their rights and interests over the house located at No. 53 San Juan St., B. Capitolyo x x x for and in consideration of P6,964,504.40, as full and complete payment of Claudio Teehankee Jr.’s civil obligation to the Hultmans.”

Under the agreement, the Hultmans, “through their duly authorized representative herein, will not object nor interpose any opposition to the application for such parole or the commutation or shortening of the sentence of Claudio Teehankee Jr., or to such other similar proceedings or relief, provided that the same shall be in accordance with law.”

Ermita said that on Jan. 13, 2003, the Hultmans “filed with the trial court a notice of satisfaction of judgment with respect to the civil aspect of the case.”

He said the Hultmans could not have been completely in the dark about Teehankee’s application for pardon. They knew all along that Teehankee’s application for pardon was under consideration, he added.  - PNA

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Being a public figure who commited such crime is unforgivable. It is better to free 10 murderers who are ordinary person.

There is an on-going petition for President Gloria Arroyo to call back the pardon.

I will personally sign in that petition.

I will check if there is an on-line link for that.

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The Hultman-Chapman murder case was a murder case that gained wide publicity in the Philippines during the early 1990's. This is due to the fact that Claudio Teehankee, Jr., the perpetrator of the crime, was the son of the late former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee, Sr. and the brother of former Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee. The case helped sway the public view and lawmakers on crime and restore the death penalty in the Philippines.[1]

Court records show that Roland John Chapman, Maureen Hultman, and another friend, Jussi Leino, were coming home from a party at around three o'clock in the morning of July 13, 1991. Leino was walking Hultman home along Mahogany street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City when Teehankee came up behind them in his car. He stopped the two and demanded that they show some identification. Leino took out his wallet and showed Teehankee his Asian Development Bank ID. Teehankee grabbed the wallet. Chapman, who was waiting in a car for Leino, stepped in and asked Teehankee: “Why are you bothering us?” Teehankee drew out his gun and shot Chapman in the chest, killing him instantly. After a few minutes, Teehankee shot Leino, hitting him in the jaw. Then he shot Hultman on the temple before driving away. Leino survived and Hultman died two months later in hospital due to brain hemorrhages caused by the bullet fragments. Teehankee was arrested several days later on the testimony of several witnesses. The witnesses were Domingo Florence and Agripino Cadenas, private security guards, and Vincent Mangubat, a driver, all three being employs of residents of the village.

The Supreme Court of the Philippines, on March 6, 1992, dismissed Teehankee, Jr.'s certiorari petition to annul the trial court's admission of the amended information, the arraignment and appointment of PAO lawyer as counsel de oficio of Teehankee, Jr., inter alia.[2] On December 22, 1992, Judge Job B. Madayag, Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 145, convicted Teehankee, Jr.[3] The Supreme Court of the Philippines on October 6, 1995, modified the trial court's decision and found Teehankee, Jr. guilty of murders of Roland John Chap­man and Maureen Hultman and sentenced to one count of reclusión perpetua and two counts of reclusión temporal. As of 2006, he was incarcerated for thirteen years at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.[4] Teehankee, Jr. was ordered to pay civil indemnity: in Criminal Case No. 91-4605, 50,000.00 Philippine Pesos as indemnity for the Chapman's death; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4606, 50,000.00 Pesos as indemnity for Maureen Navarro Hultman's death; 2,350,461.83 Pesos as actual damages; 564,042.57 Pesos for loss of earning capacity; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as exemplary damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4807, 30,000.00 Pesos as indemnity for Jussi Olavi Leino's injuries; 118,369.84 Pesos and equivalent in Philippine Pesos of U.S.$55,600.00, both as actual damages; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as exemplary damages; In all 3 cases, to pay each of 3 offended parties the sum of 1,000,000.00 Pesos for attorney's fees and expenses of litigation.[5]

The killings of Chapman and Hultman, together with other notable heinous crimes such as the murder of Eldon Maguan and the Vizconde massacre caused the Philippine Congress to restore the death penalty in the Philippines in 1993. The imposition of the death penalty had been suspended with the enactment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.[6] The death penalty would again be barred in the Philippines after legislation to that effect was passed in 2006.

On October 6, 2008, Raul M. Gonzalez confirmed Claudio Teehankee Jr.'s release from prison by virtue of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo' commutation of sentence: "Everything went by the rules here. His [Teehankee’s] records have been reviewed by the Board of Pardons and Parole before a recommendation was given to the President."[7] Raul M. Gonzalez further stated that: “I would assume that he already paid the civil liabilities.” Philippine Daily Inquirer reported about P15 million as total damages. NBP Supt. Ramon Reyes said Teehankee was released based on "good conduct time allowance," or GCTA: “The release of Mr. Teehankee underwent a rigorous review and it was signed by the Secretary of Justice, Raul Gonzalez.”[8][9]

It is not unusual for rich and influential Filipinos (and their relatives) to get pardon in the Philippines. Ambassador Manuel Antonio Teehankee, Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization, stated that his brother Teehankee, Jr. "has also already entered several years back with the financial settlement with the Hultmans." Further, Gonzalez admitted that Manuel's "reminder" was major factor in the release: "Three weeks ago bago umalis iyan (Manuel)...umalis sa Switzerland, dumaan sa office ko, hopefully sabi niya baka sakaling mapalaya ang kapatid niya (Three weeks ago, before leaving for Switzerland, Teehankee's brother went to my office and said hopefully I can facilitate his brother's release)."[10]

Source: wikipedia

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