I was a friend of the Hultman family in the 1980s and, though we have lost touch with each other after they moved to Sweden, I will never forget the terrible days following the brutal killing of Maureen Hultman and her companion.

I watched Maureen slowly fade away in the Makati Medical Center with a bullet in her brain while her parents stood vigil. I remember the determination of Anders Hultman to overcome the political pressures to allow Claudio Teehankee Jr. escape justice and the efforts to hide the murderer’s assets from forfeiture. Is 14 years enough retribution for this brutal crime? What happened to the other sentences that were meted out to Teehankee. Were the Hultman family and the public allowed to participate in the decision to release him?

This decision stinks of political influence and stains the memory of an innocent teenage girl who was shot without mercy as she begged for her life. This decision is dismaying and is another nail in the coffin of justice and accountability in the Philippines.

JAMES SAVAGE, Kawilihan Village, Pasig City (via email)