Panelo: Truth is on my side

Salvador Panelo: I have no reason to fret (Facebook photo)

Rather, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo wants to clear the Office of the President of any involvement in the controversial Antonio Sanchez case in his filing of libel cases against two media outlets.

Panelo is under fire from critics for allegedly “recommending and endorsing” to the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) the executive clemency bid of Sanchez, the former Calauan, Laguna mayor serving seven life terms for a rape and twin slay cases.

“It has been the standard operating procedure of the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel to respond to all letters received by it and refer, and not recommend or endorse, them to the appropriate agency which has the authority to act on the writer’s concern,” Panelo said.

“A simple referral is totally different from a recommendation or an endorsement. Referral is defined as the act of officially sending someone to a person or authority that is qualified to deal with them. A recommendation is defined as a suggestion or advice on what is the best thing to do. An endorsement is a statement or action which shows that you support or approve of something or someone,” elaborated Panelo.

Panelo said the libel cases against Rappler and Inquirer.net is also meant to remind the media, “owing to its enormous power to inform and influence….[that it can] can build and destroy reputations.”

“I therefore have to defend myself against baseless attacks, even insinuations, from irresponsible and sensational media,” said Panelo, saying it is an “an act by one who feels aggrieved by a malicious imputation made against his honor and character.”

In 1993, University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta was raped by Sanchez and passed on to his men who raped her anew before killing her.

Sarmenta’s schoolmate, Allan Gomez, was taken with her from the UPLB campus and also killed.

Sanchez, now reportedly afflicted with cataract and kidney disease, was convicted in 1995.

Marie Antonelvie Sanchez, the convict’s daughter, wrote Panelo on 8 February 2019 informing him of her father’s request for pardon.

Panelo, one of Sanchez’s seven counsels then, said the letter was just one of thousands his office receives on a regular basis.

On 26 February, Panelo referred Marie Antonelve’s letter to executive director Reynaldo Bayang for the BPP can decide on what appropriate action to take.

Bayang subsequently informed Panelo that Sanchez’s bid was denied because heinous crime convicts are not qualified.

It was the same argument the Spokesperson told President Rodrigo Duterte as to why Sanchez should be stricken off the list of convicts supposedly eligible for release under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.

The President ordered a stop to Sanchez’s release, supposedly set on 20 August.

Sanchez’s aborted release also caused the sacking on Wednesday of Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon, who signed the release order.

Marie Antonelve sent similar requests for recommendations to Senator Bong Go and President Duterte.

“I did not make any favorable recommendation. I merely referred the letter to the BPP. I did not ask nor wrote Senator Go for any recommendation in favor of Mr. Sanchez. Neither did I ask nor wrote the President for a favorable recommendation,” Panelo said.

“What is inappropriate is if I advised the President as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel to grant an executive clemency to Sanchez, which I did not.”

As for meeting with Sanchez’s family, Panelo said his office accommodates “people who have governmental concerns regardless of their social, political, religious, and economic backgrounds.”

“This current government has been entrusted to power for its compassion and empathy to people. To deny certain people from reaching the government henceforth runs counter to the clear mandate given by the sovereign people to the Duterte administration,” Panelo said.

Panelo further insisted he has no reason to fear or fret.

“Truth is my compass and I know that it will serve me well,” he said.