Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo should have steered clear of the clemency application of his former client, convicted rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez.
“[Panelo’s letter] says a lot… You can say it is a conflict of interest,” said Senator Panfilo Lacson on the Palace official’s letter to the Bureau of Pardons and Parole referring Sanchez’s application.
“We deserve an explanation from him. From the context of being the former defense counsel of Antonio Sanchez, his letter says a lot. If I were in his shoes, I would have begged off [from making the referral]. You cannot disassociate his personal relationship with the Sanchezes and his being chief presidential legal counsel,” Lacson added.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the contents of Panelo’s letter appeared to be standard, but the use of the official letterhead added weight to the referral.
He also said Panelo could be accused of a conflict of interest, even though he was no longer Sanchez’s lawyer.
Senator Richard Gordon, who led the hearings, said he saw no conflict of interest because Panelo is no longer Sanchez’s lawyer.
Also at the Senate, Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon said Sanchez’s record remained “clean” despite his being caught with P1.5 million worth of shabu hidden inside a Virgin Mary statue in 2010.
In Tuesday’s resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee and justice committee hearings on the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, Faeldon said the violations Sanchez committed while behind bars, including living in a “kubol” with a flatscreen TV, were not properly documented.
“I cannot find any records of those violations. They were not properly recorded,” Faeldon told Drilon.
Confronted by Drilon if Sanchez could be considered a good prisoner based on his prison record, Faeldon replied, “If you only look at the records, that appears to be, but there are other references.”
“Either there was corruption or there was negligence because it is obvious that there was a lot of violation,” said Drilon, who asked if shabu smuggling constitutes good behavior.
Drilon said he was “shocked and saddened” by news of Sanchez’s possible release.
“He is not entitled to credits for good behavior. There can be abuse in the process. There are certain facts that must be ascertained,” Drilon.
Faeldon told the Senate committees chaired by Senator Richard Gordon that he only knew of Sanchez’s violations through media reports. He said those are the reasons why he stopped Sanchez’s release.
“I asked the staff of the BuCor and they cannot produce those records,” Faeldon said, referring to documentation on Sanchez’s drug violations while in prison.
He also said he was told that an inmate would lose GCTA credits only for the month of his violation. After that, he resumes accumulating GCTA points again.
Meanwhile, upon egging from Drilon, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would pursue legal remedies to exact payment from Sanchez of the P12.6 million in damages for the relatives of his victims.
He said, however, that there was a 10-year prescriptive period for the execution of judgments, and that “many secretaries of the Department of Justice… should have taken this step long ago.”
But maintaining the innocence of her husband, Elvira Sanchez told Drilon they will not pay damages.
“We have repeatedly said why will we pay when my husband is innocent?
We really have no intention of paying,” Sanchez’s wife said.
She insisted that her husband was with them on the day the students were murdered.
Mrs. Sanchez also confirmed during the hearing that she met Faeldon on Aug. 21, but denied that any deal was made for the early release of her husband.
She only met Faeldon after receiving a text message from an anonymous person saying her husband would soon be released from prison due to good conduct.
She also said she later destroyed her cellphone because of the death threats she received after Monday’s hearing.
“If you are lying, we will eventually catch you, so tell the truth,” Drilon said.
Faeldon, on the other hand, admitted meeting with Sanchez family but denied giving them any assurances about the release of the former mayor.
Sanchez’s wife, however, said during the meeting, Faeldon estimated that her husband might be released in two months if he is qualified for the GCTA.
“It was Aug. 21 when we went to his office to clarify the things we heard, that my husband was about to be released,” said Mrs. Sanchez.
She said this was the only time she met the BuCor chief.
But interviewed after the hearing, Gordon said he does not believe that Faeldon met Sanchez’s family only once.