Aquino law aids Sanchez

If we have any concern on the wisdom of the law, then it should be addressed to the lawmakers

Malacañang said the Duterte administration does not have a hand in the reported forthcoming release of former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez through the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) scheme, since the law that provided for it was signed under the term of former President Benigno Aquino.

Chief presidential legal counsel and President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo mentioned that, with the GCTA, the families of those convicted with a crime need not approach any government official to include potential beneficiaries since conditions are provided under the law. “If one is qualified, they will compute your sentence. That is the law. If we have any concern on the wisdom of the law, then it should be addressed to the lawmakers. That law was passed during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III,” Panelo added.

The official added the discretion to release the former mayor lies with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and not the Palace.

“As I said, that is not our turf but that of DoJ. The agency will follow what is in the law,” he said. “The Palace can’t oppose a law. The Palace can only implement it.”

Incidentally, the Palace official also served as Sanchez’s counsel during the latter’s trial. He, however, clarified that he no longer represented the accused after judgment was pronounced by the trial court way back in 1995.

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“When the hearings ended, I have to attend to a previously scheduled vacation in the United States with my family, so I withdrew since there was a period of time within which to appeal. So, I can’t hold on to that case. Before that, I informed Mayor Sanchez that I will not be able to continue being his counsel. So, another lawyer took over,” Panelo explained.

However, he clarified the former mayor’s release from jail is not yet final since the evaluating committee must still consider everything in determining his behavior, including his alleged possession of illegal drugs inside his cell.

The Palace official likewise clarified that it is not for him to answer whether Sanchez deserves a second chance as a free man.

“If he qualifies under that law, then we cannot do anything (about it). The best remedy there is to amend the law or repeal it. That’s for the lawmakers,” Panelo said.

“What I know is that imprisonment is reformatory unlike before when it was punishment and vindictive. So, following that, apparently the logic of the law is to give chance to those who reformed themselves and rejoin society,” he stressed.

Other developments in the GCTA’s effect on the case of Sanchez:

• Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon appealed to the DoJ to put on hold the impending release of Sanchez.

It was Drilon who prosecuted the former mayor when he was Justice secretary for the rape slay of University of the Philippines-Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of her boyfriend Allan Gomez.

Sanchez was convicted in 1995 by the Regional Trial Court for seven counts of rape with homicide and sentenced to suffer seven reclusion perpetua, the former Justice secretary explained.

“I am shocked and saddened by this news. I had personally worked hard during my time as secretary of justice to provide justice to the victims and their families,” Drilon said.

• The Philippine National Police (PNP) expressed belief that the 11,000 prisoners who could be released from the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) subject to the GCTA have mended their ways and were already reformed.

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac made the remark as Sanchez and 11,000 other convicted personalities, whose paroles are now under review, could invoke to be set free under Republic Act 10592, which provides “for the partial extinction of criminal liability” through time off for good behavior during imprisonment or detention. The law provides that the time off is computed per month of good behavior.

• Amid the controversy, Senate President Vicente Sotto entertained the idea that the former mayor’s case may be used as the best argument for the return of the death penalty.

In a social media post, Sotto raised the question as the possible early release of Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer, along with thousands of other convicts, is being circulated in media.

“Seven life sentences, no indemnification, hearings for parole did not inform Sarmenta family. Best argument for death penalty?” Sotto said in a Twitter post.

• Senators have expressed different opinions on the possible release of Sanchez urging the DoJ to explain the computation process of GCTA.

“How come it was considered as good behavior when there is a complaint in 2006 that’s filed against him for possession of marijuana inside the NBP? In 2010, P1.5 million of shabu was found in the image of the Virgin Mary in his cell. How come they considered it as good behavior,” a senator asked.

Senate members pointed out that the basis for the computation should be clear and the process of granting of the parole should be bared.

• Lawmakers from a partylist coalition are seeking the amendment of the law providing the GCTA. ACT-CIS partylist Rep. Eric Yap said there is a need for a strict review of RA 10592, which amended provisions of the Revised Penal Code.

The discretion to release the former mayor lies with the Department of Justice.

The Palace can’t oppose a law. The Palace can only implement it.