I’m one of those mortified by the approval of our government for Paco Larrañaga to serve time in a Spanish prison instead of our state penitentiary.

To recall, Larrañaga was one of 7 men convicted of raping and killing two sisters, Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong. Their death sentence, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court, was commuted to a life sentence when President Arroyo abolished the death penalty in 2006.

In November 2007, the Senate ratified a prisoners exchange treaty with Spain. The treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides for the return home of the convicted citizens of each other’s country.

Larrañaga being half-Spanish will benefit from this Treaty and the Dept. of Justice has allowed his transfer to a Spanish prison. However, if you believe Larrañaga will truly serve the rest of his term in a Spanish prison, you were born yesterday.

His mother couldn’t contain her glee at this latest development. She tried to reason out that she was happy because her son would be able to continue his studies even in prison. Personally, I believe she was ecstatic because, once Paco sets foot in Spain, he’ll just be able to blend with the crowd and be free forever.

A heinous crime was committed here in the Philippines. Thus, the prison sentence should be served in the Philippines. If this were reversed and a Filipino was convicted of such a crime in Spain, I doubt if the Spanish government would afford the privilege of the Filipino criminal to serve time in his country.

But that’s our government. We kowtow to other countries and serve them our sovereign rights in a silver platter. For what? Favors and investments that don’t even reach the ordinary Filipino.

In the case of Paco Larrañaga being able to fly to Spain and thus the coop, the government just raped justice along with every Filipino.