03-20-2009, 09:54 AM
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerhea...nt-retrial
Forgiven? No, Mr. Jalosjos. As far as we are all concerned, you should stay in your hole for the rest of your life, minus your tennis court and burger stand!
Quote:MANILA, Philippines—Freed child rapist Romeo Jalosjos has no intention of apologizing to his victim who was 11 years old at the time of the crime.
Instead, the former Zamboanga del Norte lawmaker plans to move for a retrial of the statutory rape case in which a Makati City court found him guilty in 1997.
“I want my name cleared and my innocence [proved],” Jalosjos told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Thursday.
He said he had informed his family of his plan to file a petition for a retrial in the Supreme Court. He expressed confidence that the high court, which twice turned down his motion for reconsideration—in 2001 and 2002—would rule in his favor this time.
Jalosjos said his lawyers would present “incontrovertible” evidence to back his claim that he did not sexually assault the child.
Asked what made him decide to push for the reopening of the case, he said: “There are many aspects of the case that have not been fully exhausted and were not yet available at that time.
“There are many things there that are mysteriously missing.”
But he refused to give details or to identify the persons who, he said, had connived to clap him behind bars.
“I don’t want to name personalities. I would rather stick with the issues,” he said.
Jazz music
After avoiding the media, Jalosjos Thursday held a press briefing at his luxury resort-bar in Katarungan Village, Muntinlupa City.
A pianist and a saxophonist played jazz music as members of the media waited for Jalosjos.
The Japanese-inspired resort, which also serves as the office of the Tennis Academy of the Philippines Foundation (TAPF), has a first-class gymnasium, a swimming pool with a mini pool and a Jacuzzi, a sushi bar, a sauna room, four cottages and two private cabanas.
Jalosjos said he had spent his time overseeing the construction of the TAPF Wellness Spa since he was granted live-out status.
In time, the resort will offer full spa and dermatological services, he said.
Jalosjos admitted that he had intentionally avoided the media because he was being extra-careful about his status as an inmate.
He said that the last time he announced his departure from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in December 2007, authorities handcuffed him the next day and brought him back to jail.
“I just wanted to make sure that there are no problems with my release papers,” he said, adding jokingly: “[Prison officials] are afraid of the media. I am, too.”
Later, the freed convict obliged photographers and cameramen with a pose near the swimming pool.
He also invited them for dinner. “This will be freedom night,” he said, smiling.
‘Transformation’
Jalosjos said there was no need for him to apologize to his child victim as he had already “paid” for the crime with his 12-year imprisonment.
“It’s now time for me to move forward and bury all those bad memories,” he said, adding that he would rather show remorse through his actions than “empty words and rhetoric.”
Jalosjos said the public should not judge him by his past actions but by what he would do after his release from prison:
“How do you demonstrate that you are sorry? Do you have to shed tears and kneel before them? They should look at my transformation in the coming days or months. They have not seen my transformation.”
Jalosjos, a scion of one of the most powerful political clans in Mindanao, expressed the wish to meet the girl who, he said, had brought about the changes in his character and views in life.
He said he wanted to help her and “thank her for her efforts to cause the transformation in me.”
Forgiven? No, Mr. Jalosjos. As far as we are all concerned, you should stay in your hole for the rest of your life, minus your tennis court and burger stand!
![[Image: totallyrandomkane.gif]](http://www.technfun.com/sig2/totallyrandomkane.gif)
![[Image: 1234234723396-1-1-1.jpg]](http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y107/Aidzvill/1234234723396-1-1-1.jpg)
