Philippines hits pause on early release for ex-mayor Antonio Sanchez serving 360 years in jail amid outrage
- Sanchez was set to have been freed on August 20, his family said, after serving 24 years of a 360-year sentence for rape and multiple murders
- But public outrage has forced authorities to keep him behind bars, while they review the release of about 11,000 prisoners for good behaviour
Allan Antonio Sanchez, the oldest son of the former Calauan mayor, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer his 73-year-old father had even been fingerprinted ahead of his release. However, the ferocity of the public backlash against his early release made officials reconsider.
Justice secretary Menardo Guevarra set events in motion last week when he said the new Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, passed in 2013, would apply to all convicts, regardless of how high-profile their crime.
It appeared Sanchez would be among 11,000 inmates freed under the law offering greater incentives for prisoners’ good conduct, applied retroactively in accordance with a Supreme Court decision. Now, though, its application has been put on hold.
On Monday, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, a former close aide of Duterte, said the president had told Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections director Nicanor Faeldon that Sanchez was not to be released. On Tuesday, Guevarra said Faeldon had denied signing the release papers for Sanchez.
