President Rodrigo Duterte defended his spokesman and chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo who came under fire for referring the application for clemency of convicted rapist and murderer Antonio Sanchez to the Board of Pardons and Parole.
“It was not his fault. He referred it to the proper entity and that is the Board. Panelo did not commit any infraction,” the President said.
Duterte said Panelo’s action was “a consequence” of his being a lawyer.
Panelo was one of the seven defense lawyers of Sanchez in his 1993 case where he was sentenced to seven counts of reclusion perpetua.
Duterte said there was no conflict of interest on Panelo’s part as he vouched for the character of his spokesman.
“I can vouch for his character. He did what is right. I have full faith in Panelo,” the President added.
Panelo met with the family of Sanchez not once but twice, the security logbook at the New Executive Building in Malacañang showed.
The logbook showed Elvira Sanchez, the convict’s common-law wife, went to Malacañang on Feb. 7 at 10:33 a.m. The purpose of her visits, the logbook showed, was to a “follow-up” with Panelo.
On Feb 26., Marie Antonelvie (Antonio’s daughter) and Elvira were listed in the logbook for another follow-up with Panelo. The record showed they arrived at 10:12 a.m.
In Tuesday’s press briefing, Panelo defended the non-disclosure of his meetings with Sanchez family.
“The question was in reference to Sanchez himself if I talked to Mayor Sanchez himself. So I always answered no,” he said.
“Perhaps if the question was: Did the Sanchez family write you a letter? Then I can say, ‘Oh there’s a letter there, yes.’ But the question often is: Do you have a contact with Mayor Sanchez? Mayor Sanchez himself,” he added.
But in his Aug. 28 briefing in Beijing, Panelo was asked if he had been in communication with the Sanchez family.
He replied: “Eh matagal na kasing nakakulong yun eh. Nung binisita ko siya, three years after the conviction. (He’s been in jail for so long. When I last visited him, it was three years after the conviction.)”
Panelo was asked again if he no longer had connections with his client, to which he said, “Wala na. (Not anymore.)
BPP executive director Reynaldo Bayang on Tuesday confirmed that Panelo had sent him a letter dated Feb. 26, referring Sanchez’s application for clemency.
The revelation drew public outrage, since Panelo served as one of Sanchez’s defense lawyers during his trial for the 1993 rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of Allan Gomez, both UP Los Baños students.
Panelo never mentioned the referral until a copy of his letter surfaced during Senate hearings on the early release program for inmates—which had been spurred by reports that Sanchez might get out of prison early.
Panelo said that he had told the family that he will not intervene in Sanchez’s release.
“I could have had wrote (sic) a letter recommendation. That I would have written them in the tenor that it is really recommended. You must remember—you look at the dictionary, there is a whale of a difference between ‘referral’ and ‘recommendation,’” he said.
“Did I accede to the request, did I recommend? I did not. I referred the letter to the appropriate agency,” he said.
But opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan said the letter from Panelo was not a simple referral when he was the lawyer of the convicted felon.
Senator Joel Villanueva said it is important for any government official to be sensitive to the letters they issue and the people they meet.
“It may be labeled as just an endorsement but the power and influence of the office may suggest something that is more than just a routine function,” he said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said he, too, refers cases, but normally do not meet with those seeking such referrals.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Panelo’s letter could be taken many ways and could have been taken as a mere endorsement, or as an implied endorsement because of his position.
