(Eagle News)–Senator Bato dela Rosa, former chief of the Bureau of Corrections, on Thursday, Aug. 22, said former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez was a “changed man.”
Dela Rosa said while he did not personally speak to the former mayor, this was based on information he received from BuCor personnel.
“Mabait na sir, hindi na siga, malumanay na,” Dela Rosa quoted the BuCor personnel as saying.
According to Dela Rosa, Sanchez, based on information from BuCor personnel, was also “nakapalda na, nakalipstick.”
It was unclear if this was said literally or in jest, Dela Rosa said.
“Ibig sabihin hindi na siga, mabait na,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa made the remark following outrage on social media over what was believed to be the planned release of Sanchez, who has been convicted of the rape of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Aileen Sarmenta, and her killing and that of her friend Allan Gomez in 1995.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sanchez and over 10000 other convicts “may” be free soon following a June ruling of the Supreme Court that said Republic Act No. 10592, which increased the good conduct time allowance law given to inmates, should be applied retroactively.
A retroactive application of the law, which was passed in 2013 during the time of then-President Noynoy Aquino, means convicts who have been meted out a final judgment prior to the law’s enactment can benefit from the law.
Then-Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and then-Interior Secretary Mar Roxas had recommended a prospective application of the law to cover only qualified convicts who were given a final judgment after the law’s enactment.
Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon urged the public not to assume Sanchez would already be released, as the BuCor had yet to compute the good conduct credits he may have accumulated.
