DAVAO CITY (August 13) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has granted an absolute presidential pardon to former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Datu Zacaria A. Candao, ending a long-running legal chapter involving the region’s first elected governor.
Candao served as the first regional governor of the ARMM from 1990 to 1993.
The presidential pardon had been sought for years, with the Bangsamoro Parliament formally appealing to President Marcos for executive clemency.
On June 22, 2023, the Bangsamoro Parliament adopted Resolution No. 355 urging the President to grant executive clemency to Candao and his brother, former ARMM Executive Secretary Dr. Abas Candao.
The appeal was reiterated through Bangsamoro Parliament Resolution No. 413, adopted on October 24, 2023, which specifically called on Marcos to grant an absolute presidential pardon to Zacaria Candao, Abas Candao and former ARMM disbursing officer Israel Haron.
The clemency appeal stemmed from a long-running malversation case involving the former ARMM officials.
The case originated from an expanded special audit of the Office of the Regional Governor of the ARMM conducted by the Commission on Audit in 1993. The audit uncovered irregular disbursements involving P21.045 million in public funds.
In 2008, the Sandiganbayan found Candao and his co-accused guilty of malversation of public funds. Candao was convicted on nine counts.
The Supreme Court, in a decision dated October 19, 2011, affirmed the conviction, finding Candao and his co-accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code. The Court also ordered them to jointly and severally restitute P21,045,570.64 to the government through the ARMM Regional Treasurer.
The Supreme Court subsequently denied the petitioners’ motion for reconsideration in a February 1, 2012 resolution, effectively maintaining the conviction.
Under Article VII, Section 19 of the 1987 Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction by final judgment. Philippine jurisprudence defines an absolute pardon as the total extinction of criminal liability without conditions, restoring the individual’s civil and political rights and remitting the penalty imposed for the offense.
The pardon therefore marks a significant development in the long-running case involving Candao, who also played an early role in the establishment and administration of the autonomous government in Muslim Mindanao.
For the Bangsamoro, the development also closes a decades-long legal chapter involving one of the region’s pioneering political figures.
Details on the date of President Marcos’ issuance of the pardon, including the exact terms and whether the document contains specific provisions, were not immediately available in the publicly accessible sources reviewed for this report.
