Spain wants rapist to be spared

[badkuk]

The very thought sickens me, pero tingin ko makakalusot ung gago...



This story was taken from www.inq7.net
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index....story_id=33040

Spanish lawmakers urge gov't to spare rapist on death row
Posted 07:37pm (Mla time) April 08, 2005
By
Agence France-Presse

A DELEGATION of legislators from Spain urged Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday to spare the life of Paco Larranaga, scion of a Spanish-Filipino clan sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two young women.

The eight parliamentarians from a cross-section of Spain's political parties said they met with Filipino Senate President Franklin Drilon to deliver their request on the sidelines of an international conference on parliamentarians, which ended here Friday.

The Supreme Court last year upheld the death sentence meted by a lower court on Larranaga and six other co-defendants for the kidnapping and murder of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong on the central island of Cebu in 1997.

"We come from different political groups with different ideologies and we have disagreements on many things, but we are in complete agreement on this issue," Juan Moscoso del Prado Hernandez of Spain's ruling Socialist Party told a news conference. "We are sure that Paco is innocent."

The group said they submitted to Drilon and House Speaker Jose de Venecia documents provided by the Larranaga family that they insisted would prove the convict's innocence.

They said certain "factual and procedural elements" during the trial "may have undermined his (Larranaga's) legal guarantees and that casts doubts on the elements of his guilt," according to the legislators' letter to the two Filipino congressional leaders.

Arroyo, in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, has suspended judicial executions since coming to power in 2001 despite popular pressure for the reinstatement of capital punishment.

In January, lawyers' groups from Barcelona, Madrid, and Spain's Basque region asked the Filipino Supreme Court to allow them to intervene in the Larranaga case.

The three groups said they believed Larranaga was a "Spanish citizen with origins in the Basque country and therefore a member of the European Union," whose members have abolished capital punishment.

The Philippines is a former Spanish colony.

[falken]

Tell them to go to hell and mind their own f*cking business. And get on with the execution.

[Alpha_One]

What the hell do they care?

[ILuvDetailing]

the last thing we need, another rapist on the loose

[ts1n1ta]

that is full of sh*t. ---"We are sure that Paco is innocent."--- yeah right tell that to the two young women he raped...oh wait i forgot he killed em! tsk tsk. on with the execution!

[falken]

"The three groups said they believed Larranaga was a "Spanish citizen with origins in the Basque country and therefore a member of the European Union," whose members have abolished capital punishment."


His victim's surnames were Chong, whose surname is Chinese, and whose origins are from China where they still have the death penalty, on with the execution!

[empy]

i don't know the specifics of the case, but my general sentiment about rapist/murderers is to kill them, make it a public event, and give the ticket proceeds to the family of the victims.

also, i don't think the philippines should give in to foreign meddling....especially spain of all countries

however, if there is evidence that he's innocent, why don't they make it public?

[nugundam93]

"...for the rape and murder of two young women..."

WHAT THE HECK? they wanna spare someone who did THAT?!

dapat sila ang na-rape eh para malaman nila.

imagine the added anguish to the victims' family if they spare the rapist. gah.

[yebo]

well spain did raped and murder thousands of "indios" during spain's rule in the philippines. maybe they think we still are a colony? so what the heck, 2 more does not make any difference, no? we still are "indios", and what do they care about "indios" anyway? pillage, rape and murder. they're just being true to their old selves!

[BlueBimmer]

tell the spaniards to go f*ck themselves!

[van_wilder]

I've been to bilibid prisons. Death sentence doesn't work. Nun nagstart implement ang death sentence... nag triple ang population nila. So it is very obvious, hindi sila natatakot sa death sentence, actually they prefer that than living in bilibid, and some of them prefer bilibid than the outside world, kung saan wala silang ma-kain...

i see the issue in a different perspective, we should give up a part in order to get a whole. If the spanish government would owe us a favor, we might get a loan from one of the two biggest banks in spain, owned by the bourbons. If makuha natin ito, aangat na ulit ang economy natin, for sure yan. I dont want to get into details pero sure yun, some countries na umangat ang economy ay thank you lang sa mga loans ng bourbons.

poverty is the root of crime.

I'd rather see one rapist on the loose than see thousands of Filipinos on the loose who have the tendency to do crime...

[BlueBimmer]

well tell that to the family of the 2 girls hehe

[falken]

So, van wilder, it's ok to spare a criminal as long as we are monetarily compensated for it? tsk tsk, If we adopt your sense of reasoning, that means the rich are allowed to commit crimes, as long as they pay up.

poverty is the root of crime.

In this case Paco Larranaga is a scion of a wealthy family.

i see the issue in a different perspective, we should give up a part in order to get a whole. If the spanish government would owe us a favor, we might get a loan from one of the two biggest banks in spain, owned by the bourbons. If makuha natin ito, aangat na ulit ang economy natin, for sure yan. I dont want to get into details pero sure yun, some countries na umangat ang economy ay thank you lang sa mga loans ng bourbons.

Loans don't guarantee economic improvement. And what you're suggesting sounds much more like "Blood Money".

I'd rather see one rapist on the loose than see thousands of Filipinos on the loose who have the tendency to do crime...

One criminal on the loose is already too many.

And. don't get me wrong, I've been to Bilibid Prisons too, In some cases there were really some poor guys who got convicted because they were too poor to afford a good lawyer, but majority of those in there are truly criminals to which we should say: "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."

[falken]

I'd rather see one rapist on the loose than see thousands of Filipinos on the loose who have the tendency to do crime...

Go talk to some rape victims or friends and families of rape victims first before you even think of posting such an irresponsible statement.

[Alpha_One]

I wouldn't have rapists put to death, if I were in charge.

I'd have them castrated in public, live on national TV.

[BlueBimmer]

van wilder, i wonder if you would think the same way if that 1 rapist who was set loose raped some1 u know or worse someone u love.

[yebo]

oh so it's OK to be raped and murdered as long as someone gets money for it?

hey, why don't you volunteer! we sure need the money! common dude, we'll use part of the money to build you a statue in luneta! since you so much care for this country why not be a martyr and we'll find one spanish honcho to ream your ass while he's strangling you with piano wire!

[BlueBimmer]

oh man thats sick! good point master yebo hehe

[Tacoma_34]

wtf? stupid spaniards, all of you . spain sucks d*ck

[Josh0027]

What kind of BS is this??? :arghhh: This is a meddling of our sovereignity! And as if they even know the guy... heck I don't even know the guy but if if he is indeed innocent then the courts should decide.