The wife of convicted former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez yesterday said their family has no intention of paying the P12.6-million court-mandated damages to the families of victims UP Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez.
Elvira Sanchez, appearing in the resumption of the Senate hearing looking into the Good Conduct Time Allowance, maintained his husband’s innocence more than 20 years following his conviction.
“Bakit kami magbabayad walang kasalanan ang asawa ko,” asked Elvira.
“Actually wala talaga kaming intensyon kasi po nagsasabi ako ng totoo, ‘yung sinasabi nilang araw at petsa na nirape at pinatay si Eileen Sarmenta at pinatay si Allan Gomez, nasa amin ang asawa ko, kasama ang anak ko,” she insisted in reply to a question posed Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
In her 1995 court ruling, now retired Judge Harriet Demetriou ordered all accused, including Sanchez’s henchmen, to pay civil indemnity to the families of the victims aside from serving their life sentences.
In their previous interviews, both parents of the victims also admitted that the Sanchez family paid nothing in damages since his conviction.
During the hearing, an official of the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) testified that presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo referred the request of the family of former mayor Sanchez’s application for executive clemency.
Reynaldo Bayang, BPP Executive Director 3, said Panelo sent the referral letter to the BPP early this year.
In the letter, Panelo requested Bayang’s office to provide him updates about Sanchez’s case.
Panelo served as legal counsel for Sanchez, who was convicted in 1995 for the rape and murder of UP Los Baños (UPLB) students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 1999.
He earlier denied he had anything to do with the reported possible release of Sanchez from prison.
But at the Senate hearing, Elvira Sanchez, the ex-mayor’s wife, admitted they asked prominent people to vouch for their husband’s good and moral conduct as he tried to apply for executive clemency.
Mrs. Sanchez also admitted that she wrote President Duterte a letter asking his help, which she coursed through Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go who was then a close aide of the chief executive.
Other persons they sought for recommendation were former Supreme Court justice Arturo Brion, and former Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos and members of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines.
This prompted Sen. Richard Gordon to believe that the BPP could have been influenced into granting the Sanchez’s family their request for their patriarch’s early release from prison. (Hannah Tabios,Hannah Torregoza)
