LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza
BAGUIO
CITY -- As this goes to press, several groups, including the senate is baffled
as to why convicted rapist and murderer ex-mayor Antonio Sanchez of Calaoan,
Laguna was included in the list of inmates who may be candidates for parole.
Sanchez, along with six other co-accused
was sentenced for seven life terms for raping and killing UP Los Banos coed
Aileen Sarmenta and the death of her companion and fraternity brother Allan
Gomez in 2003.
News reports of Sanchez’s possible
release sparked protests by students and former classmates of the duo in UPLB,
and angered friends and relatives. Some netizens who commented on social media
said the impending parole is very frustrating.
Two groups on social media are
petitioning against the release of Sanchez and have launched signature
campaigns. Public clamor can influence the decision of National Bilibid Prisons
officials and the committee that recomputed the seven life sentences of
Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Senator Bato dela Rosa was
bombarded with negative comments for saying that convicted rapist and murderer
Sanchez should be given a second chance in life if he was found to have good
behavior record while in prison.
According to NBP records, there are
around 11,000 inmates who are candidates for parole. If the 11,000 inmates are
released soon, this is helpful in as far as decongesting the crowded NBP
facilities, but Sanchez should not be included.
RA10592 of 2013, a retroactive law,
allows recomputation of sentences for NBP inmates with good behavior but not
for the likes of Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer.
With the small NBP committee created to
review and recompute the inmates’ penalties based on good behavior, there is doubt
that they will finish reading all folders. And before applying a new law to
justify the release of Sanchez, justice must be served for the rape and murder
of Sarmenta and Gomez.
Because of Sanchez’s case coming into the
limelight, Senators Tito Sotto and Frank Drilon filed separate amendments to RA
10592 purposely to prevent hardened criminals from getting included in the list
of inmates who can paroled.
With the law that was passed in 2013,
inmates who served with good conduct may be allowed to have their sentences
recomputed, although Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon said the
inmates’ folders land on his desk and he has the last say on whether the
prisoner may be released.
Since this caught the attention of the
public, this might urge lawmakers to push for the passage of the death penalty.
High profile crimes by anybody should not be included under RA 10592.
For its part, the Presidential Anti-Crime
Commission (PACC) disapproves the commutation of sentence of Sanchez
questioning how the inmate’s alleged good behavior became the basis for his
release.
His looming release if it will be
implemented contradicts the factual report of witnesses that while serving
sentence, he acted like a “king” and not a prisoner as he was allowed a
television and use of a cellphone to communicate with the outside world.
He was also caught with shabu concealed
inside the ceramic statue of Mother Mary in 2010. If he was also able to have
his prison cell installed with air conditioning, I suspect his electric consumption
in his kubol was at the expense of tax payers.
If these were the reports found in his
NBP folder, then Sanchez may not be a candidate for parole and will rot in jail
to serve seven life sentences. But if these are disregarded, then Sanchez may go
scot free because rape and murder are not heinous after all.
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