{"id":228575,"date":"2019-08-28T22:48:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T02:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=228575"},"modified":"2019-08-28T22:48:47","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T02:48:47","slug":"panelo-wont-resign-over-sanchez-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/08\/28\/panelo-wont-resign-over-sanchez-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Panelo won\u2019t resign over Sanchez issue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Panelo made this remark after retired judge Harriet Demetriou, the judge who convicted Sanchez, called for Panelo\u2019s resignation, refusing to believe that the spokesman had nothing to do with Sanchez\u2019s possible freedom based on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) or Republic Act No. 10592. (File Photo:<\/a> Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Wednesday said he would not resign amid allegations that he had a hand in the possible release of convicted rapist-murderer, former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez.<\/p>\n

Panelo made this remark after retired judge Harriet Demetriou, the judge who convicted Sanchez, called for Panelo\u2019s resignation, refusing to believe that the spokesman had nothing to do with Sanchez\u2019s possible freedom based on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) or Republic Act No. 10592.<\/p>\n

R.A. 10592 provides new guidelines on how to compute good conduct time, including a 20-day deduction for each month of good behavior during the first two years of imprisonment.<\/p>\n

Panelo dismissed Demetriou\u2019s call for him to resign as \u201csilly, if not absurd\u201d, noting that her opinion against him was made \u201con the basis of pure speculation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI serve at the pleasure of the President, and as his alter ego, I will not be distraught nor derailed by any unfounded remark raised against me. I will instead continue to faithfully perform my duties in accordance with the law, the functions attached to my office as well as the directives given me by the President,\u201d Panelo said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that, being a practitioner of the law, Judge Demetriou will soon realize that expressing judgmental or condemnatory remarks based on a simple hunch has no place in a profession which values the rule of law.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo, who is also Duterte\u2019s Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, also insisted anew that he had no hand in the possible liberty any of the qualified inmates who may be freed under the GCTA.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy office has nothing to do with the possible release of qualified inmates. That is the turf and the responsibility of the Department of Justice and the concerned offices under it. I do not intrude nor poke my finger into any matter that is not within the mandate of my office,\u201d Panelo said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He explained that when President Rodrigo Duterte asked for his opinion on whether Sanchez was covered by the benefit granted to inmates under the GCTA, he said the former mayor was ineligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI categorically stated that by express provision of the law, Mr. Sanchez and those similarly situated, meaning inmates charged and convicted of heinous crimes, as well as those recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees, are excluded from the coverage of the law,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDura lex sed lex. There is no way by which those expressly disqualified by law could be considered for release by reason of good behavior,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As for inmates who are qualified under the GCTA, Panelo said there is no need for any intervention from anybody in the government because they will be automatically processed in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, defended his initial response to reporters saying that the government cannot oppose the law if it allows inmates to be released earlier from their prison cells based on good behavior while in service.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch pronouncement still stands as we will implement the law and we will implement it properly, that is to the exclusion of recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo said he withdrew as the former lawyer of Sanchez in 1995.<\/p>\n

Sanchez was sentenced to seven counts of reclusion perpetua (up to 40 years imprisonment) for the rape and murder of University of the Philippines Los Ba\u00f1os student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her companion, Allan Gomez in 1993.\u00a0(<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Wednesday said he would not resign amid allegations that he had a hand in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":186250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228577,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228575\/revisions\/228577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}