Arrest of 80-year-old who took mangoes shows double standard –Lacson, Diokno, Ka Leody

Imprisonment was severe as punishment for an 80-year-old man who took 10 kilos of mangoes from a neighbor’s lot, when some who allegedly stole people’s money go scot-free, three aspirants for the May 2022 elections said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who is running for president, took to Twitter to narrate his “tale of two thieves.”

“Police arrested 80 year-old Lolo Narding Floro for stealing 10 kilos of mangoes from a tree which he said he planted in what used to be his backyard. Government official X keeps stealing millions in public funds. He is free travelling with police escorts,” Lacson said.

A TALE OF TWO THIEVES: Police arrested 80 year old Lolo Narding Floro for stealing 10 kilos of mangoes from a tree which he said he planted in what used to be his backyard. Government official X keeps stealing millions in public funds. He is free traveling with police escorts.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) January 19, 2022

Human rights lawyer and senatorial aspirant Manuel "Chel" Diokno said courts should be allowed to impose alternative penalties for individuals found guilty of committing minor offenses instead of imprisonment.

Labor leader and presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman said that the justice system in the country has a ‘double standard’ for arresting the octogenarian over stolen mangoes, but not the rich and the drug lords for their heavier crimes.

Police on January 13 arrested Leonardo Flores, 80, in Barangay Bantog, Asingan town in Pangasinan on a warrant issued by a local court.

Flores was released on January 20 after posting P6,000 bail contributed by individuals who sympathized with his plight.

Diokno raised the Recognizance Law, a measure which provides for "releasing a person in custody or detention for the commission of an offense who is unable to post bail due to abject poverty."

However, he lamented that numerous requirements need to be accomplished before one can avail of the benefits of the law.

“Nakakalungkot ang nangyaring pag-aresto kay Lolo Nanding. Dito makikita ang double standard na hustisya sa ating bansa. Kapag mahirap nakukulong, pero kapag mayaman nakakalaya,” Diokno said.

“May kilala nga tayo na isang makapangyarihang tao nahatulan na pero nasa laya pa rin. (We know of a powerful person who has been convicted but remain free.) If I win a Senate seat, I plan to amend this law so that people like Lolo Nanding can avail of recognizance quickly,” he added.

Diokno said that he will propose the passage of the Alternative Penalties Act which would allow the courts to impose alternative penalties to imprisonment for minor offenses.

He said these penalties may include community service, home detention and electronic monitoring, rehabilitation or treatment orders for drug and alcohol-related cases, fully or partially suspended sentences with conditions attached, and exclusion orders.

Some get away with crime

De Guzman asked why authorities were quick to put the cuffs on the poor, while laggard in going after those who stole the public money and peddlers of illegal drugs.

“‘Yung mga ganong bagay na napakaliit na bagay at resulta ng kanilang kahirapan ay nagawa. Pero, ‘yung mga bilyon-bilyon ang ninakaw na mga indibidwal, hindi makasuhan at nakakalusot,” he said.

“Ganon din sa drugs. Kapag ikaw ay user, patay ka, pero kapag ikaw ay drug lord, nakakalaya ka,” he added.

Recognizance law

Under the existing Recognizance law, the release on recognizance of any person in custody or detention for the commission of an offense is a matter of right when the offense is not punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, provided that the accused or any person on behalf of the accused files the application for such.

Application should be filed under the following circumstances: before or after conviction by the Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities and Municipal Circuit Trial Court; and
before conviction by the Regional Trial Court, provided, further, that a person in custody for a period equal to or more than the minimum of the principal penalty prescribed for the offense charged, without application of the Indeterminate Sentence Law, or any modifying circumstance, shall be released on the person’s recognizance.

Likewise, the law requires submission of the following additional documents and circumstances:

-a sworn declaration by the person in custody of his/her indigency or incapacity either to post a cash bail or proffer any personal or real property acceptable as sufficient sureties for a bail bond; and

-a certification issued by the head of the social welfare and development office of the municipality or city where the accused actually resides, that the accused is indigent;

-the person in custody has been arraigned;

-the court has notified the city or municipal sanggunian where the accused resides of the application for recognizance.—LDF, GMA News