I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the topic of executive clemency. I know so very little about this but since President Duterte took his oath of office, I am slowly learning about the importance of such an act in our society.
In 2016, President Duterte granted absolute pardon to actor Robin Padilla upon the recommendation of the Board of Parole under the Department of Justice. In a statement, the President said the pardon which he granted the actor was different from the original pardon which did not state full restoration of political and civil rights. Because of this, actor Robin Padilla was not allowed to travel, or obtain a permit, or possess a gun again.
In March of 2017, 27 out of 127 prisoners endorsed for executive clemency by the DOJ were pardoned. These prisoners were given conditional pardon and commutation of pardon. Further doing research and trying to understand the difference between a conditional, commutation and absolute pardon is where I further deepened my learnings on how pardons are granted.
Having said this and going back to the case of Robin Padilla where a conditional pardon was granted to him by former President Fidel V. Ramos, in 2016 the absolute pardon granted to him by President Rodrigo Duterte restored both his civil and political rights allowing him to travel, own a passport and vote, thus the difference between the pardon granted to the actor in 1997.