Amendment of Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency

Constitutional and statutory basis

The resolution anchors executive clemency on Section 19, Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which authorizes the President to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures after final conviction, except where constitutionally limited.
The President’s executive clemency power is limited in three constitutional categories: impeachment, cases involving violation of election laws under Section 5, Paragraph C, Article IX without a favorable recommendation of the Commission on Elections, and cases where the conviction is on appeal or has not become final and executory.
The resolution treats the enumerated disqualifications in earlier clemency guidelines as not consonant with Section 19, Article VII and as violating equal protection of the laws by discriminating against certain offenders.
The resolution incorporates the rule in Republic Act No. 9346 (enacted June 24, 2006) that persons convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua or whose sentences were reduced to reclusion perpetua under Republic Act No. 9346 are not eligible for parole under Act No. 4103 (as amended).
The resolution recognizes that under Executive Order No. 83 dated January 11, 1937, the Board of Pardons and Parole assists the President in exercising executive clemency.

Policy, purpose, and governing principle

The resolution aims to provide opportunities to qualified and deserving inmates to ease congestion in correctional institutions.
Executive clemency is described as a mechanism to prevent a miscarriage of justice or correct a manifest injustice.
Executive clemency remains an exercise of the President’s sound discretion and is not treated as creating vested or enforceable rights for applicants.

Parole eligibility review and national inmate

Rule 2.1 is amended to provide that a case may be eligible for review by the Board if all of the following exist:
- The inmate is serving an indeterminate sentence whose maximum period exceeds one (1) year.
- The inmate has served the minimum period of the indeterminate sentence.
- The inmate’s conviction is final and executory; when there are one or more co-accused convicted, the director/warden concerned must forward their prison records and carpetas/jackets at the same time.
- The inmate has no pending criminal case.
- The inmate is serving sentence in the national penitentiary, unless confinement in a municipal, city, district or provincial jail is justified.
A “national inmate” is defined for these rules as one who is sentenced to a maximum term of imprisonment of more than three (3) years or to a fine of more than five thousand pesos.
“National inmate” includes, regardless of the length of sentence imposed by the court, those sentenced for:
- Violation of the customs law or other laws within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Customs or enforceable by it; and
- Two (2) or more prison sentences in the aggregate exceeding three (3) years.

Parole disqualifications and review procedure

Rule 2.2 is amended and now states that parole is not granted to inmates in the following categories (pursuant to Section 2 of Act No. 4103, as amended):
- Those convicted of offenses punished with death penalty or life imprisonment.
- Those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason, or espionage.
- Those convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition, or coup d’état.
- Those convicted of piracy or mutiny on the high seas or Philippine waters.
- Habitual delinquents: those found guilty for a third time or oftener within ten (10) years from the date of release from prison or last conviction, of any of these crimes: serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa, and falsification.
- Those who escaped from confinement or evaded sentence.
- Those who, after being granted conditional pardon by the President of the Philippines, violated any of its terms.
- Those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one (1) year or those with definite sentence.
- Those convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose sentences were reduced to reclusion perpetua because of Republic Act No. 9346 (enacted June 24, 2006) amending Republic Act No. 7659 dated January 1, 2004.
- Those convicted for violation of the laws on terrorism, plunder, and transnational crimes.
Rule 2.2 formerly contained Paragraphs i to l, which are deleted for being inconsistent with Section 2 of Act No. 4103, as amended.
Rule 2.3 is amended to allow Board review upon petition or referral by correctional and/or other agencies when the inmate is not disqualified under Rule 2.2.

Executive clemency guidelines: scope and standards

Section 1 is amended to restate the constitutional authority of the President under Section 19, Article VII and to confirm that executive clemency is exclusively discretionary.
Section 1 states that the guidelines serve only as guidance to the Board in assisting the President pursuant to Executive Order No. 83 dated January 11, 1937.
Section 3 is amended by defining “Extraordinary Circumstances” when the Board shall recommend executive clemency if any of the following circumstances exist:
- The trial court or appellate court recommended executive clemency in its decision.
- The penalty imposed is too harsh compared to the crime committed under the peculiar circumstances of the case.
- Evidence exists that the court failed to consider before conviction and that would have justified acquittal.
- The inmate was over fifteen (15) but under eighteen (18) at the time of the commission of the offense.
- The inmate is seventy (70) years old and above and continued imprisonment is inimical to health, as recommended by a physician of the Bureau of Corrections Hospital and certified under oath by a physician designated by the Department of Health.
- The inmate suffers from serious, contagious, or life-threatening illness/disease, or severe physical disability (including total blindness, paralysis, and bedridden status) as recommended by a physician of the Bureau of Corrections Hospital and certified under oath by a physician designated by the Department of Health.
- The inmate is an alien and diplomatic considerations and amity among nations necessitate review.
- Other similar or analogous circumstances where the interest of justice will be served.
Section 4 is amended and authorizes Board review and recommendation for executive clemency even when no extraordinary circumstances under Section 3 exist, if minimum imprisonment requirements are met:
- For Commutation of Sentence, the inmate must have served:
  - At least one-third (1/3) of the definite or aggregate prison terms.
  - At least one-half (1/2) of the minimum of the indeterminate prison term or aggregate minimum of the indeterminate prison terms.
  - At least ten (10) years for inmates sentenced to one (1) reclusion perpetua or one (1) life imprisonment for crimes/offenses not punished under Republic Act No. 7659 and other special laws.
  - At least thirteen (13) years for inmates whose indeterminate and/or definite prison terms were adjusted to a definite prison term of forty (40) years in accordance with Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended.
  - At least fifteen (15) years for inmates convicted of heinous crimes/offenses as defined in Republic Act No. 7659 or other special laws, committed on or after January 1, 1994, and sentenced to one (1) reclusion perpetua or one (1) life imprisonment.
  - At least eighteen (18) years for inmates convicted and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment for violation of Republic Act No. 6425, as amended (Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972), or Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002); and for kidnapping for ransom or violation of the laws on terrorism, plunder, and transnational crimes.
  - At least twenty (20) years for inmates sentenced to two (2) or more reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, even if their sentences were adjusted to a definite prison term of forty (40) years in accordance with Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended.
  - At least twenty-five (25) years for inmates originally sentenced to death penalty but automatically reduced or commuted to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.
- For Conditional Pardon, the inmate must have served at least one-half (1/2) of the maximum of the original indeterminate and/or definite prison term.

Clemency notice, publication, objections

Section 10 is amended to require that when an inmate is being considered for executive clemency, the Board shall notify the offended party; if the offended party cannot be located or is unavailable for comment, the Board must notify the immediate relatives of the offended party.
The notified offended party or immediate relatives must be given thirty (30) days from notice to comment on whether executive clemency may be granted.
The Board may waive or dispense with notice in matters of extreme urgency or when the interest of justice will be served, and must explain the reason for the waiver in the Board resolution recommending executive clemency.
Section 11 is amended to require that the Board shall cause publication once in a newspaper of national circulation of the names of inmates being considered for executive clemency.
When the inmate was convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment by reason of Republic Act No. 9346, publication must be once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.
Interested parties may submit written objections/comments/information relevant to the cases of inmates considered for executive clemency not later than thirty (30) days from the date of publication.
Publication may be waived or dispensed with in matters of extreme urgency or when the interest of justice will be served, and the Board must explain the reason for the waiver in the Board resolution recommending executive clemency.

Repeals and transitory implementation details

Section 5 of the Amended Guidelines for Recommending Executive Clemency is repealed.
The resolution’s amendments to parole and executive clemency rules operate by amending the specified sections and rule provisions and repealing the specified parole/guidelines provisions stated in the resolution.
Rule 2.2, Paragraphs i to l of the Rules on Parole are deleted because they conflict with Section 2 of Act No. 4103, as amended.