President Duterte has directed the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the justice department to ensure that convicted rapist and murderer Antonio Sanchez would not walk from prison despite a law allowing the release of convicted prisoners for good behavior.
Sen. Christopher Go said President Duterte issued the order after studying Republic Act 10592 or the law on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) that does not cover inmates convicted of heinous crimes.
“I heard from President Duterte that he has issued an order. Sanchez should not be released upon the order of the higher authority. Meaning, who is the higher authority? No one else but the president of the Republic of the Philippines,” Go, a former aide of Duterte, said in a chance interview at the Libingan ng mga Bayani yesterday.
“He has relayed to BuCor chief (Nicanor) Faeldon and (Justice) Secretary (Menardo) Guevarra that he (Sanchez) cannot be released,” he added.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte expressed his opposition to Sanchez’s release immediately after the controversy erupted.
“The law is very clear... I talked to the President. He said the very night it (news about Sanchez’s possible release) came out, he called commissioner Faeldon, Bucor chief, and informed him about his stand,” Panelo, a former lawyer of Sanchez, told CNN Philippines yesterday.
Asked if he thinks Sanchez deserves a second chance, Panelo replied: “The problem is whether he deserves or not, under the law he’s not supposed to be eligible. So the question is irrelevant.”
In 1995, Sanchez, a former mayor of Calauan, Laguna, and several cohorts were convicted and sentenced to seven life terms of up to 40 years each for the rape-slay of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her friend Allan Gomez in 1993.
Last week, the justice department said Sanchez and about 11,000 other inmates may be released within two months because of the GCTA law and a high court ruling applying it retroactively, sparking a public outcry.
Officials later clarified that the former mayor is not eligible to be released because the law does not cover recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes.
Panelo said he does not have information about claims that Sanchez is now a changed man. He also revealed that he had reached out to retired Sandiganbayan justice Harriet Demetriou, who doubts the claim that the spokesman had nothing to do with the supposed attempt to release Sanchez.
“In fact, I just texted her just now – we are friends – and asked her, ‘Is it true that you were quoted as saying these?’ Then I told her for your info, I have absolutely nothing to do with it and I don’t even know that Republic Act 10592 has been passed by the legislature. I just knew about it when everybody was talking about it,” Panelo said.
Vice President Leni Robredo has rejected proposals to reinstate the death penalty in the country amid the possible release of Sanchez.
She said several officials allied with the administration point at Sanchez’s case in justifying the reinstatement of death penalty in the country.
The Vice President, however, stressed that reimposing capital punishment poses more problems, given the disparity of treatment between the rich and the poor under the present justice system.
“What I can’t accept is many were saying it’s time to pass the death penalty (bill). Because this (Sanchez’s) case is a proof that we should not pass it as only the rich will benefit from it,” she said in her weekly program over radio station dzXL on Sunday.
She instead called for judicial reforms.
According to her, a complete overhaul of the judicial system is needed to address problems such as the long, arduous process in resolving cases, the political nature of appointing judges and the poor’s lack of access to quality legal services.
Senators are pushing for amendments to the GCTA law to remove any ambiguities that may be exploited by disqualified convicts in collusion with unscrupulous prison officials.
The senators also backed the move of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to suspend the processing of the release of prisoners eligible for early release under the GCTA law.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the resolution he will file this week aims to review and amend Republic Act 10592 of 2013, which allows the reduction of sentences by as much as 19 years based on a formula that credits good behavior with corresponding number of days to be deducted from a convict’s term.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, an alumnus of UPLB, said he will push for amendments to make it clear that convicts of heinous crimes like murder, drug trafficking, kidnap-for-ransom and “other highly-dangerous criminals cannot avail of the program, period.”
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who successfully prosecuted Sanchez and his cohorts in 1995, also expressed support for the DOJ’s move saying “there is negligence, if not corruption, at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).”
“I could not help but suspect that there are shenanigans happening inside the BuCor in favor of the rich and powerful inmates, including former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez,” Drilon said in a statement.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson also backed the review of the law even as he shared his colleagues’ suspicion of corruption in the BuCor.
Review
Justice Secretary Guevarra yesterday said the review of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the GCTA for convicts will be finished in 10 days.
Guevarra said he is set to issue a department order today creating a task force that would include officials of BuCor and the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), and possibly even the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) since it is the agency that has supervision over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson Mark Perete said the IRR would have to be promulgated by both the justice department and DILG, and that “the review process will either be a joint or simultaneously done so that the DOJ and DILG could finish the review and recommendations.”
There are about 11,000 convicted criminals whose prison terms might be abbreviated as a result of the implementation of RA 10592 that covers the re-computation of their GCTA, and the order of the Supreme Court (SC) for the retroactive application of the law prior to its passing on May 29, 2013.
Last Thursday, Guevarra said some 200 convicts have already been released as a result of the re-computation of their GCTAs.
Perete said they are still asking BuCor for the names of the 200 PDLs who have left prison and might divulge their names to the public.
There were reports that even while in prison, drug charges were filed against Sanchez for alleged possession of shabu and marijuana in 2006.
Four years later, he was reportedly caught with one kilogram of shabu hidden in a statue of the Virgin Mary inside his cell. He allegedly sold the P1.5 million worth of illegal drugs to his fellow inmates.
In 2015, an air-conditioning unit and flat screen TV were seized from his cell.
Guevarra earlier said that there are exemptions and hinted that Sanchez might not be eligible for the reduction of his prison term.
Meanwhile, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) secretary general Edre Olalia hopes that the law “applies to all who are genuinely qualified based on objective criteria and not merely on mathematical computation devoid of context.”
“From a purely legal perspective and in principle, we have to grudgingly concede that because we have to be consistent. But adjustments should be made to amend the law to reflect reality, ensure remorse, guarantee rehabilitation and determine its overall impact to the victims and society,” he said.
House Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman pointed out the good conduct time allowance for convicted felons is a good law and qualified prisoners should not be derailed by the case of one man, “as it constitutes the greater injustice.”
“The case should not imperil the fate of around 10,000 prisoners who are qualified for early conditional release by their remorse, rehabilitation and good conduct. They have earned it. Tuloy tuloy dapat ang evaluation for the GCTA program,” he explained.
Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, a former Court of Appeals justice, had raised concern that Sanchez is not entitled to be released owing to the gravity of his offense, not to mention the seven life terms he was convicted of, as well as other infractions he made inside prison.
“This case is very simple. It just cannot be based on the law (RA 10592). The law is very specific and very clear,” the chairman of the House of committee on justice explained further.
Hataman said based on a fiscal standpoint, it makes sense to push through with the program, as the BJMP has a proposed budget of P18.6 billion for 2020. – With Paolo Romero, Helen Flores, Evelyn Macairan, Delon Porcalla
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This article first appeared on Philippine Star.
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