The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the release from jail of Rolito T. Go, a construction magnate who was convicted of murder in 1993 for the killing of De La Salle University student Eldon Maguan in a road rage incident in San Juan City in 1991.
Go has been confined at the Metropolitan Hospital in Manila for years due to his stage 4 colon cancer, according to a source.
In a resolution, the SC affirmed the trial court’s ruling in a habeas corpus petition that Go’s jail sentence expired in August 2013 for good conduct and not in 2022 as stated by the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor).
The SC ruling, issued by its third division, denied Bucor’s appeal.
In a letter addressed to Bucor, Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., chair of the SC’s third division, said:
“Whereas, the Supreme Court on Nov. 28, 2016 promulgated a Resolution in the above-entitled case, the dispositive portion of which reads: ‘Wherefore, the petition is DENIED. This Resolution is IMMEDIATELY EXECUTORY. The Director of the Bureau of Corrections is ordered to immediately RELEASE petitioner Rolito T. Go from detention unless he is detained for any lawful cause. SO ORDERED.’
Go has been detained at the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City since 1996.
In 2008, Go and several other inmates were given a colonist status for good conduct equivalent to one fifth of their maximum jail term.
In the case of Go, his 40-year sentence was automatically reduced to 30 years with his colonist status.
On Jan. 30, 2014, Go pleaded for his release through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
He told the court while his original sentence would expire on Jan. 31, 2022, he was entitled for release in August 2013 for his colonist status and good conduct.
Despite the opposition from Bucor, the trial court granted Go’s petition. The case was elevated by Bucor to the Court of Appeals (CA) for dismissed it on technicality. Bucor then went to the SC.
BuCor Director General Benjamin Delos Santos said Go “will be brought back from the Metropolitan Hospital to the NBP for processing (of his release).”
BuCor Deputy Director for Operations Rolando Asuncion also said Go “needs to go to NBP (from the hospital) for his release.” (REY G. PANALIGAN, JONATHAN M. HICAP)