Convicted former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez died without paying court-ordered damages to the family of slain University of the Philippines-Los Banos (UPLB) student Allan Gomez.
In March 1995, Sanchez, George Medialdea, Zoilo Ama, Baldwin Brion, Luis Corcolon, Rogelio Corcolon and Pepito Kawit were found guilty by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 70 of seven counts of rape with homicide in the rape-slay of Eileen Sarmenta and killing of Gomez in June 1993.
The court sentenced each of the seven men to serve seven reclusion perpetua.
Reclusion perpetua carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.
In October 2001, the Supreme Court modified the award of damages to the families of the two victims, ordering Sanchez and the six others to pay damages in the amounts of P3.98
million to the heirs of Sarmenta and P3.99 million to Gomez’s.
In the case of Gomez, the Supreme Court ordered the award of the following: P2.44 million, loss of earning capacity; P350,000, death indemnity; P1 million, moral damages; P10,000, nominal damages; and P191,000, attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) announced that Sanchez died on March 27 at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa where he was serving his sentence. He was 72.
Oliver John Gomez, Allan’s brother, said Sanchez failed to pay the damages to their family.
“Not yet and it's more than almost ₱4M po as far as I know,” he told Manila Bulletin. “He (was) still claiming that he (was) a victim also, we heard that they have no intention of paying all his victims.”
Court records showed that Gomez was 19 when he was killed. He was a senior student of the UPLB College of Agriculture, majoring in beef production.
Sarmenta was 21 at the time of her death, She was a graduating student at the UPLB College of Agriculture, majoring in food and nutrition for large animals.
According to Supreme Court records, the suspects abducted Gomez and Sarmenta and brought them “to Erais Farm where Eileen was raped by the Mayor and Allan beaten up black and blue, headed for a sugarcane field killing Allan along the way, sexually abused Eileen in rapid succession and finally killed her.”
According to the testimony of star witness Aurelio Centeno, Sarmenta was given as a gift to Sanchez.
“Mayor, ito po 'yung regalo namin sa inyo. Ito po yung babae na matagal na po ninyong kursunada,”
said Luis Corcolon, according to a 1999 decision of the Supreme Court. Mayor Sanchez replied, “Aba, and ganda talaga ng babaeng yan.”
After raping Sarmenta, Sanchez said, “O sige mga anak, salamat sa regalo ninyo. Salamat sa regalo ninyo sa akin. Tapos na ako, sa inyo na iyan. Bahala na kayo diyan. Ano naman ang gagawin ninyo diyan sa lalake ?” to which suspect Medialdea replied, “Boss, papatayin na rin po namin ito para wala pong bulilyaso.”
During a BuCor raid of dormitories at the NBP maximum security camp in November 2015, authorities confiscated an LED TV and air conditioning unit from the room of Sanchez.
Sanchez said then that he was suffering from chronic renal failure, heart problem, diabetes, and skin asthma.
In August 2019, Sanchez was back in the limelight as one of those set for an early release from NBP for having served 49 years and eight months in prison under Republic Act 10592, which increased the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) awarded to prisoners, according to BuCor.
His actual time served was nearly 26 years at the time.
GCTA, according to a Department of Justice manual on RA 10592, is “a privilege granted to a PDL , entitling him/her to a reduction of prison term for every month of actual detention or service of sentence as a reward for good conduct and exemplary behavior.”
However, the release of Sanchez was cancelled due to public outrage. An online petition titled “Stop the Release of Mayor Antonio Sanchez; Let Him Serve His Seven Life Sentences” was launched opposing Sanchez’s early release. Oliver John was one of those who signed the petition.
The BuCor changed its decision and said those who were serving heinous crimes, including Sanchez, were excluded from getting GCTA. He was not released from prison.