Larrañaga set to fly to Spain anytime now - DOJ chief

The great grandson of President Sergio Osmeña Sr. convicted for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of the Chiong sisters in 1997 is ready to fly anytime now to Spain. Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said on Thursday that Juan Francisco “Paco" Larrañaga could already be allowed to spend his remaining prison time at a detention facility in Spain after he had settled his civil liabilities to the family of his victims. The Philippine government is just waiting notice from the Spanish government for the schedule of the convict’s transfer, according to Devanadera. It was Larrañaga’s family, through the Yorac, Arroyo, Chua, and Coronel law firm, who appealed to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allow the convict’s transfer through the RP-Spain Transfer of Persons Agreement. The pact, which allows the physical transfer of Filipinos incarcerated in Spanish prison back to the Philippines, and vice versa, stemmed from 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 committing the crimes against beauty queen Marijoy Chiong, and her sister Jacqueline on July 16, 1997 in Cebu City. The DOJ decision favoring Larrañaga came out in the news days before the 33rd and 31st birthday of Marijoy and Jacqueline on September 8 and 9, respectively. Paco, now 32 years old, is the son of former Basque pelotari Manuel Larrañaga, and Margarita Gonzalez, granddaughter of President 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. Devandera said she was told by the victims’ mother, Thelma Chiong last Tuesday that her family had already received payment for damages worth P750,000, and that the Chiongs “respected the decision of the government" to have Larrañaga transferred to Spain. “The other day, may bisita ako, (sina) Thelma Chiong at dalawang kapatid… Nagkaroon kami ng magandang palitan ng kuro-kuro at paglilinaw (The other day, Thelma Chiong and two of her sisters were my visitors. We had a pleasant exchange of insights and clarifications). (I told them that) the only authority of the Spanish government is to make sure that Larrañaga continues to serve his sentence in prison," Devanadera said. But Chiong says she is currently consulting a lawyer to determine her camp’s next move to delay Larrañaga’s transfer. “Magmi-meeting pa kami ng lawyers ko bukas kung ano ang gagawin namin to delay the transfer (I have to meet with my lawyers tomorrow to determine how we can delay the transfer)," Chiong told GMANews.TV in a phone interview Thursday night. Chiong confirmed receiving payment for damages from Larrañaga. She said Devanadera had assured her family that Larrañaga would stay in prison and would not be pardoned by the Spanish government. She, however, claimed that Devanadera could not give details on Larrañaga’s transfer. “Wala siya masyadong sagot talaga sa mga tanong namin. Hindi raw nila alam kung saan talaga ililipat si Paco. Binigyan niya lang kami ng assurance na walang pardon na maibibigay ang Spain (She was not able to answer most of our questions. She said they didn’t know where Paco would be transferred. She just gave us assurance that Spain could not grant any pardon)," said Chiong. Santiago earlier said that the DOJ had erred in handling Larrañaga’s case because the agency did not conduct public hearing to give a chance to those who oppose Larrañaga’s transfer to air their side. The senator said that the DOJ, as an administering state, should issue implementing rules and regulations for the treaty, set the petition for transfer for public hearing and make it necessary and compulsory for the family of the victims to be notified and file an opposition to the transfer. - with reports from Carlo Lorenzo, GMA News