Decision on Manila commutation today

The Eloy S. Inos administration expects to make a decision today, Tuesday, whether to commute the 60-year sentence of a Filipino national who was convicted in 2002 for the death of his 6-month-old goddaughter.

Reynaldo Manila, who has already served 15 years of his 60-year prison term, is requesting that his sentence be commuted so that he could seek medical treatment for an eye issue that could lead to blindness, according to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

Medical costs that the CNMI would have to bear to treat Manila as a Department of Corrections inmate, a thorough review of his criminal case, and the urgency for him to receive treatment, and alternatives to commutation are some of the issues being mulled ahead of a decision, administration officials said yesterday.

For one, acting governor Ralph DLG. Torres has been advised by Attorney General Edward Manibusan to consider a temporary release and permit for Manila to travel to the Philippines, Saipan Tribune learned, a move that may satisfy Manila’s pressing health concerns while safeguarding the CNMI’s interests in seeking justice for the victim of Manila’s crime.

The Office of the Attorney General has made it clear that they do not believe that Manila’s health concerns warrant commuting a lengthy sentence—with 45 years left to serve—for the serious crime. The OAG has also warned that commuting Manila’s sentence runs the risk of setting a dangerous precedent with no clear limitations for future cases.

The OAG has asked Torres to examine an alternative course of action that would balance Manila’s medical needs and safeguard the CNMI’s interest that Manila serve a sentence that accurately reflects the seriousness of his crime, Saipan Tribune learned.

On Dec. 22, the CNMI Board of Parole unanimously voted to support commuting Manila’s 60-year prison sentence. Manila is 54 years old and has served 15 years so far.

Manila was 39 years old in 2002 when then-Superior Court Associate Judge Virginia Sablan-Onerheim sentenced him in June that year to 60 years in prison for second-degree murder over the death of the infant.

The baby lingered in the hospital for several days before dying on Nov. 6, 2000.

A jury found Manila guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse.

Manila is five years away from being eligible for parole.