Transcript of Sen. Santiago's interview

On Larrañaga's transfer and the RP-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement Treaty

The thing is this: the treaty uses the word "may". If one state party requests the other state party for the transfer or exchange of a certain prisoner, the requested state--the Philippines for example--may grant the request and it does not have to explain why it cannot grant the request if the decision is otherwise. I think the only error made here was there should have been a public hearing of the petition to transfer. I presume that the petition was filed by the prisoner, and there was no objection from the administering state. If he had filed a petition, that petition, like a petition for extradition, should have been subjected to public hearing, then we would have heard the opposition of the family of the victim or the complainants. The Department of Justice just thought it