(Eagle News)–The mother of Eileen Sarmenta is no longer in favor of the death penalty.
Maria Clara Sarmenta made the revelation during a Senate hearing on Monday, Sept. 2, on Republic Act 10592 that increases the GCTA given to inmates.
The hearing was called following public outrage over the reported release under the law of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted for the murder and rape of Aileen and the murder of her friend Allan Gomez in the 1990s.
This was after the Supreme Court ruled in June that the application of the law should be retroactive to include inmates who were given a final judgment prior to the passage of the law in 2013.
Asked by Senator Francis Tolentino to ascertain the veracity of media reports she wanted the death penalty reimposed following the murder of her daughter, Sarmenta replied in the affirmative but said that was a “spur of the moment” answer.
“But then when I thought it over, being a Christian, I would rather have the life sentence because in the death penalty, isang injection lang, tapos na,” she said.
She added with the death penalty, the convict would not be allowed to “suffer” unlike if he is imprisoned for life.
She added the prisoner would also be “given the chance to be reformed” in a life sentence.
“Hindi naman ako sadista but then parang mas ma(gaan) sa loob na yung kanyang hatol ay pang-habangbuhay,” she said.
