Parents of victims Gomez, Sarmenta recall anguish, cry 'where is justice here?'
Published Sep 2, 2019 05:19 pm
By Mario Casayuran
Iluminada Gomez, mother of murder victim Allan Gomez, was brought out of the Senate during a committee hearing at 12:15 p.m. Monday and transported by an ambulance to the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Pasay City.
Ma. Clara Sarmenta, accompanied by her husband Roberto,(Left) becomes emotional during the Senate hearing on GCTA involving Calauan Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez on Monday. (Photo by Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN)
It appeared that Gomez’s blood pressure shot up after telling senators that her life was shattered following the killing of her son in 1993 by former Calauan (Laguna) Mayor Antonio Sanchez and his cohorts.
Raped and murdered along with young Gomez was his friend, Eileen Sarmenta. Both were students of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).
Gomez told Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, that she entertained fear after learning that Sanchez was about to be released although he had only served 26 years out of the seven life imprisonment sentences imposed by the courts on him and his cohorts.
Mrs. Ma. Clara Sarmenta, mother of Eileen, said her world stopped in 1993 when she learned that her daughter was sexually abused and murdered by Sanchez and his bodyguards.
Both Gomez and Sarmenta said Sanchez never asked for forgiveness nor paid them in damages as ordered by the courts.
Sarmenta said she had sought medical help for her to find strength to go back to normal life as she tried hard to cope with her emotional distress.
‘’Where is justice here?’’ she asked after asking herself why Sanchez is about to be released after serving 26 years in jail despite a life imprisonment sentence.
She asked aloud why prison officials allowed Sanchez to ‘’live like a king’’ at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinglupa City.
She later said she favors lethal injection as the supreme penalty rather than a life sentence ‘’para matapos na.’’
Gordon asked Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) Director-General Nicanor Faeldon why Sanchez was allowed to violate prisons rules such as his having a wristwatch, a pair of sunglass, a belt and leather shoes.
Like other senators, Gordon pointed out that Sanchez stayed at a ‘’kubol’’ (a hut separate from the usual concrete and steel prison building) and had four pillows, an air conditioning unit and a big TV set.
There is a current uproar over the BuCor’s commutation of Sanchez’s prison term for supposed good conduct under the “’Good Conduct Time Allowance’’ (GCTA) law despite his patent violations of prison regulations.
Senator Risa Hontiveros asked aloud why the BuCor decided to commute the prison sentences of Sanchez and several ‘’moneyed’’ convicts such as the four Chinese drug lords but allowed the poor other convicts in their 70s and 80s to rot in jail.
Hontiveros was able to get an affirmative reply from Faeldon that the senators who grilled him are men of integrity.
Faeldon said he believed he is a doing a good job but Hontiveros said factors point to another way.
Read more: Faeldon confirms release of Chiong rape-slay convicts; denies signing Sanchez’s release order
Ma. Clara Sarmenta, accompanied by her husband Roberto,(Left) becomes emotional during the Senate hearing on GCTA involving Calauan Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez on Monday. (Photo by Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN)
It appeared that Gomez’s blood pressure shot up after telling senators that her life was shattered following the killing of her son in 1993 by former Calauan (Laguna) Mayor Antonio Sanchez and his cohorts.
Raped and murdered along with young Gomez was his friend, Eileen Sarmenta. Both were students of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).
Gomez told Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, that she entertained fear after learning that Sanchez was about to be released although he had only served 26 years out of the seven life imprisonment sentences imposed by the courts on him and his cohorts.
Mrs. Ma. Clara Sarmenta, mother of Eileen, said her world stopped in 1993 when she learned that her daughter was sexually abused and murdered by Sanchez and his bodyguards.
Both Gomez and Sarmenta said Sanchez never asked for forgiveness nor paid them in damages as ordered by the courts.
Sarmenta said she had sought medical help for her to find strength to go back to normal life as she tried hard to cope with her emotional distress.
‘’Where is justice here?’’ she asked after asking herself why Sanchez is about to be released after serving 26 years in jail despite a life imprisonment sentence.
She asked aloud why prison officials allowed Sanchez to ‘’live like a king’’ at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinglupa City.
She later said she favors lethal injection as the supreme penalty rather than a life sentence ‘’para matapos na.’’
Gordon asked Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) Director-General Nicanor Faeldon why Sanchez was allowed to violate prisons rules such as his having a wristwatch, a pair of sunglass, a belt and leather shoes.
Like other senators, Gordon pointed out that Sanchez stayed at a ‘’kubol’’ (a hut separate from the usual concrete and steel prison building) and had four pillows, an air conditioning unit and a big TV set.
There is a current uproar over the BuCor’s commutation of Sanchez’s prison term for supposed good conduct under the “’Good Conduct Time Allowance’’ (GCTA) law despite his patent violations of prison regulations.
Senator Risa Hontiveros asked aloud why the BuCor decided to commute the prison sentences of Sanchez and several ‘’moneyed’’ convicts such as the four Chinese drug lords but allowed the poor other convicts in their 70s and 80s to rot in jail.
Hontiveros was able to get an affirmative reply from Faeldon that the senators who grilled him are men of integrity.
Faeldon said he believed he is a doing a good job but Hontiveros said factors point to another way.
Read more: Faeldon confirms release of Chiong rape-slay convicts; denies signing Sanchez’s release order