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Torres decides against commutation for Manila
Reynaldo Manila, a Department of Corrections inmate serving a 60-year sentence from 2002 for the death of his 6-month-old daughter, will remain jailed.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres decided against commutation yesterday after taking into account information received from the CNMI Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Public Safety on the criminal history of Manila, a Filipino national.
The CNMI Board of Parole unanimously voted last month to commute Manila’s sentence to allow Manila to seek medical treatment in the Philippines for an eye issue said to lead to blindness.
“It is now my decision to not commute the jail sentences of Mr. Manila,” Torres wrote in a letter to parole board chair Ramon B. Camacho. “Due to Mr. Manila’s medical conditions, I will work with the Office of the Attorney General to make the necessary arrangements to see that Mr. Manila is able to receive the necessary treatment off-island.”
In making the decision, administrational officials had spoken to the AG’s office and the U.S. attorney general chief prosecutor out of Guam. They also met with members of the family of the victim. The Torres administration will be working with the Department of Justice and the AG to figure out a process in which Manila can receive treatment that CNMI will be bearing as required by the CNMI Constitution, officials said yesterday.
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 were some of the issues being mulled ahead of a decision.
The Office of the Attorney General had made it clear that they did not believe that Manila’s health concerns warrant commuting a lengthy sentence—with 45 years left to serve—for the serious crime. The OAG had warned that commuting Manila’s sentence runs the risk of setting a dangerous precedent with no clear limitations for future cases.
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. He is five years away from being eligible for parole.
