No one disputes the President’s power to give pardon to offenders of the law. But we can all criticize and question the wisdom of each pardon and what better example could there be than the one given to Claudio Teehankee Jr., the convicted murderer of Maureen Hultman.

Go here and here for a backgrounder on the Hultman murder of 1991.

News reports have confirmed that Teehankee was whisked away tonight from the National Bilibid Prison on board a government vehicle. As expected, the Hultmans are very disappointed and angry, and they have denied receiving information from the government that Teehankee’s name had been submitted to the President for possible grant of pardon. Had they been adequately informed, the Hultmans would have raised objections.

Anders Hultman, Maureen’s father, has accused President Arroyo of “secretly and sneakily” releasing Teehankee.

The secretary of the “Department Store” of Justice (a term first used by a former solicitor-general who is now a critic of this administration) has this advice to the Hultmans: File an appeal before Jesus Christ

Manuel Teehankee, the convicted murderer’s brother who is Arroyo’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization, has claimed that the pardon was above-board and legal. Another government official however claims otherwise, saying that the DOJ violated its own rules on pardons.

Sometime back, we saw the sorry spectacle of the Arroyo government’s attempt to free another convict, the rapist Romeo Jalosjos, but it didn’t prosper due to the outrage expressed by the public. How about the pardon on convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada?

The Teehankee pardon is a reminder of how important and powerful the presidency is, and why we should not take matters lightly when the office-holder (legitimate or not) subverts the system or abuses prerogatives.