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Panelo referred to parole board Sanchez's bid for clemency —official


Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo had referred to the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) the letter of the family of convicted rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez requesting for his executive clemency, a BPP official said Tuesday.

At the resumption of the Senate hearing on the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, lawyer Reynaldo Bayang, BPP Executive Director 3, said Panelo made the referral to BPP early this year.

 

"We request that your good office update us for record purposes and for whatever action this office may want to undertake consistent with law and the policy of the President for good governance," Panelo said in his letter dated February 26, 2019 addressed to Bayang.

At a press briefing in Malacañang, Panelo confirmed that he indeed referred to BPP the letter of Sanchez's family but said it was not tantamount to intervention.

"There is no part of this representation's official communication asking for intervention," he said. "The referral letter speaks for itself."

Panelo later told reporters he will file libel charges against the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler over what he believed were malicious reports saying he made a recommendation in favor of Sanchez's release. The Philippine Daily Inquirer told GMA News Online it will wait for a copy of the complaint before responding. GMA News Online has also contacted Rappler for comment but has yet to receive a reply.

Testifying at the hearing, Elvira Sanchez, Sanchez's wife, said they have asked prominent people to vouch for the good and moral conduct of Sanchez regarding his bid for executive clemency, among them former Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos, former Supreme Court Justice Arturo Brion, Senator Bong Go, and members of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines.

“Atty. Reynaldo Bayang asked me [to submit] letter of recommendations from our friends, and that is what I did,” Elvira said.

Bayang also said that aside from Panelo’s letter, he also received letters from Marcos, Vice Mayor Angelo Alonte of Biñan City, Laguna, and former Laguna Governor ER Ejercito in connection with Sanchez's bid for executive clemency.

Despite these letters, Bayang said the BPP ultimately decided to recommend the granting of executive clemency to Sanchez.

Panelo served as legal counsel for Sanchez, who was convicted in 1995 for raping and killing UP Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and her friend Allan Gomez.

The Supreme Court, in 1999, upheld the Pasig Regional Trial Court's conviction.

Panelo, however, has earlier said that he had nothing to do with the reported possible release of Sanchez under GCTA law.

Since reports of Sanchez’s possible release came out last August 20, government officials have said that Sanchez is not qualified to avail of the GCTA since he committed a heinous crime. —With reports from Virgil Lopez and Dona Magsino/KBK/KG, GMA News

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