b. Forms of Executive Clemency

Pardoning Power

• Scope and Limitations
• Forms of Executive Clemency

1987 CONST., art. VII, sec. 19

> SECTION 19. Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment. He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the Congress.

Forms and Limitations

The matter of executive clemency is non-delegable power and must be exercised by the President personally (Villena v. Secretary of the Interior, G.R. No. L-46570, April 21, 1939).

The power exists as an instrument for correcting the infirmities in administration of justice and for mitigating whenever a strict application of the provisions of the law will result in undue harshness. (Bernas, 1987 Philippine Constitution: A Commentary, 924, 2009).

FORMS OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY

PARDON – An act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed (United States v. Wilson, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 150 (1833)). It is either conditional or plenary.

AMNESTY - An act of grace concurred in by Congress, usually extended to groups of persons who commit political offenses, which puts into oblivion the offense itself. The President alone cannot grant amnesty for it needs the concurrence by a majority of all the members of Congress. When a person applies for amnesty, he must admit his guilt of the offense that is subject to such amnesty. If his application is denied, he can be convicted based on this admission of guilt.

REPRIEVE – temporarily postpones the execution of a criminal sentence or penalty (People v. Vera, G.R. No. L-45685, Dec. 22, 1937).

REMISSION OF FINES AND FORFEITURES – prevents the collection of fines or the confiscation of forfeited property but it cannot have the effect of returning the property which has been vested in 3rd parties or money already in the public treasury (Bernas, 1987 Philippine Constitution: A Commentary, 933, 2009).

COMMUTATION – a remission of a part of the punishment; it is a substitution of a lesser penalty for the one originally imposed (People v. Vera, G.R. No. L- 45685, Dec. 22, 1937).

EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY IN ADMINISTRATIVE CASES:

The power to grant clemency includes cases involving administrative penalties. Where a conditional pardon is granted, the determination of whether it has been violated rests with the President.

The President can extend it to administrative cases but only in the Executive Branch, not in the Judicial or Legislative Branches of government (Llamas v. Orbos, G.R. No. 99031, Oct. 15, 1991).

TAX AMNESTY: A legislative grant of relief from specified tax liabilities or penalties for covered violations, subject to compliance with the terms of the amnesty law (Republic v. IAC, G.R. No. 69344, Apr. 26, 1991).

Forms and Limitations

SECTION 19, ARTICLE VII. Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment.

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Forms of Executive Clemency

• Reprieves: A temporary relief from or postponement of execution of criminal penalty or sentence or a stay of execution [Black’s Law Dictionary]. It is the withholding of a sentence for an interval of time, a postponement of execution, a temporary suspension of execution [People v. Vera, G.R. No. L-45685 (1937)].
• Commutations: Reduction of sentence [Black’s Law Dictionary]. It is a remission of a part of the punishment; a substitution of a lesser penalty for the one originally imposed [People v. Vera, supra].
• Amnesty: A sovereign act of oblivion for past acts, granted by government generally to a class of persons who have been guilty usually of political offenses and who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted, and often conditioned upon their return to obedience and duty within a prescribed time [Black’s Law Dictionary; Brown v. Walker, 161 US 591 (1896)].
• Requires concurrence of majority of all members of Congress [Sec. 19, Art. VII, 1987 Constitution]
• Remit fines and forfeitures after conviction by final judgment
• Pardons: Permanent cancellation of sentence [Black’s Law Dictionary]. It is an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime he has committed. It is a remission of guilt, a forgiveness of the offense [People v. Vera, supra].

Parole (not a form of executive clemency): Conditional release administered through the parole system under the Indeterminate Sentence Law (Act No. 4103) after the convict has served the minimum term of the indeterminate sentence. It is not an exercise of the President’s pardoning power under Sec. 19, Art. VII, 1987 Constitution.

Pardon

Plenary or Partial

Plenary: Remits the penal consequences of the offense, subject to Article 36 of the Revised Penal Code: the right to hold public office or the right of suffrage is restored only if expressly restored in the pardon, and civil indemnity remains payable.

Partial: Does not extinguish all penalties imposed

Conditional or Absolute

Conditional: The offender has the right to reject the same since he may feel that the condition imposed is more onerous than the penalty sought to be remitted.

The determination of whether the conditions had been breached rests exclusively in the sound judgment of the Chief Executive [Torres v. Gonzales, G.R. No. 76872 (1987)].

Absolute: The pardonee has no option at all and must accept it whether he likes it or not. In this sense, an absolute pardon is similar to commutation, which is also not subject to acceptance by the offender.