DoJ, prison officials must explain

“Sanchez’s conviction in two separate but equally gruesome murder cases should be enough legal reason to keep him in the slammer for at least 40 years.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III says that a very reliable source told him that freedom is for sale in the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa. If Sotto’s information is correct, then there is good reason to believe that the release of 1,914 prisoners from prison purportedly due to their good behavior during detention may really be anomalous after all. That explains why President Rodrigo Duterte issued an ultimatum for the prisoners to return to prison pending further investigation.

At any rate, Sotto must reveal what he knows and pursue an investigation of the prison racket immediately. Any delay will not be good for the public interest.

If freedom is for sale at the national penitentiary, it is certain that special accommodations are also for lease to rich and influential convicts.

Take the controversy involving the currently detained Sen. Leila de Lima, who was Justice secretary during the administration of then President Benigno Aquino III. De Lima is accused of having allowed convicted drug lords serving time in the national penitentiary to avail of special accommodations there, consisting of air-conditioned suites complete with their own facilities like television sets, personal computers, mobile phone use, Internet access and catered food.

In exchange for the special treatment and accommodations, the drug lords supposedly paid De Lima hefty millions of pesos on a periodic basis, and that De Lima’s driver and lover was her bagman.

A raid conducted at the national penitentiary in relation to the accusation against De Lima confirmed the existence of the special accommodations and revealed that the “protected” drug lords there also had access to firearms, gambling paraphernalia, narcotics and cash.

Now comes the convicted ex-Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez, who is serving seven 40-year sentences for the 1993 gang-rape and murder of a University of the Philippines Los Baños coed and the murder of the latter’s companion, who was also from UPLB. Sanchez has been in detention for the past 26 years.

After his conviction in the UPLB rape-slay case, Sanchez was likewise convicted in a separate double-murder case.

A photograph of Sanchez taken at the national penitentiary in the late 1990s indicates that he stays in a room with a clean, spacious bed, pillows and pillow covers, a cabinet, and a statue of the Virgin Mary. It was also learned that his special accommodations included an air-conditioner and a state-of-the-art television set. Sanchez himself was in smart casual attire, and not in the usual prison uniform regular convicts are required to wear.

In the course of his stay at the national penitentiary, Sanchez was caught in possession of shabu which he, ironically, hid inside the statue of the Virgin Mary he displays in his special cell.

Sanchez’s conviction in two separate but equally gruesome murder cases should be enough legal reason to keep him in the slammer for at least 40 years. His special accommodations and his possession of shabu inside the prison compound are obvious violations of prison regulations, and enough reasons to disqualify him from claiming good behavior while in detention.

When Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra announced last month the likelihood that Sanchez may be released from prison on account of good behavior credits, his announcement was met with public outrage. That was enough pressure for Guevarra to reverse himself and declare that Sanchez’s expected release will not take place after all.

Photographs taken of Sanchez at the prison grounds last August reveal that nothing much seems to have changed in the special treatment afforded Sanchez. He was seen walking in the compound in his usual smart casual attire, complete with sunglasses and a wristwatch. The prison guards around him behaved more like his assistants rather than his jailers.

Since De Lima is no longer Justice secretary, Secretary Guevarra and his cashiered Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon must assume the responsibility of explaining to the Filipino people why Sanchez was almost allowed to go scot-free, despite all the reasons for his remaining behind bars.