BRAINSTORM...

enjoying prohibited luxuries during his imprisonment and he was even found in possession of “shabu”, apparently hidden inside a statue of the Virgin Mary, in jail. Considering this, he should not be entitled to any good conduct allowances for the ENTIRE PERIOD that he was enjoying luxuries particularly because among the violations enumerated in the “Uniform Manual on Time Allowances” of the Department of Justice and Bureau of Corrections is “Keeping unauthorized amount of money, jewelry, cellular phones or other communications devices, luxurious properties and other items classified as contraband under the rules”. Also, the officials of the BuCor, particularly the Director of Prisons, have great leeway in granting or denying good conduct allowances. The fact that Mr. Sanchez has been found to have been violating, not the just prison rules, but even the Dangerous Drugs Act while being detained, shows that, contrary to the voiced opinions of some politicians, he has NOT truly reformed. I even read in a news article, which I hope was not fake news, that he is still maintaining that he is innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. So, if indeed he has changed, it was apparently a change for the worse. In ending, I certainly hope that while we have cause to raise issues about the application of good conduct allowances to benefit Mr. Sanchez, considering the specifics of his case, we should not lose sight of the fact that he is ONLY ONE of the thousands of prisoners who can benefit from R.A. 10592, many of whom may be truly deserving of a second chance to be contributing members of society. So, I hope that this one very rotten apple will not give cause to throw away the bushel of a thousand souls