Arroyo accused of playing politics with justice

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been accused of playing politics with the Philippine justice system by issuing a spate of presidential pardons and commuting the sentences of politically connected convicts.

The beneficiaries have included convicted rapists, murderers and plunderer and former president Joseph Estrada. The latest recipient of presidential clemency is former congressman Romeo Jalosjos, 67, a child rapist whose family backed Mrs Arroyo in three elections.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales credited politics for Jalosjos' sentence being slashed by Mrs Arroyo. Mr Gonzales said: 'Jalosjos has two congressmen [relatives] - one sister and one brother - and that is a pressure point. The political undertones here are something which you cannot ignore.'

In April, a month before the congressional elections, Mrs Arroyo reduced to 16 years Jalosjos' two life sentences, equivalent to 108 years. This was despite Jalosjos' refusal to pay the 800,000 pesos (HK$148,000) in damages the court awarded to his 11-year-old victim in 1996.

Jalosjos' younger brother Cesar and younger sister Cecilia both belong to Mrs Arroyo's Kampi party.

The commutation also enabled Jalosjos to leave a maximum security prison and acquire a 'living out' status. Jalosjos told a local TV station that this allowed him to go outside the penitentiary to a nearby exclusive community in which his wife and five-month-old daughter lived.

He was only required to report to prison authorities early in the morning and late in the afternoon, he said.