Former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez — who was convicted for the rape and murder of two university students — has been confined to the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Hospital after experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms.
Sanchez, 71, experienced vomiting, and diarrhea before being rushed to the state penitentiary hospital on Monday. After confinement, he experienced shortness of breath, Bureau of Corrections spokesman Gabriel Chaclag told reporters yesterday.
The convicted rapist-killer also has pre-existing hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease, said Chaclag. Sanchez was first brought to Ospital ng Muntinlupa, but was turned away because the COVID-19 ward was full. Sanchez is still under observation at the NBP Hospital, where he is awaiting results of his swab test after testing reactive in an earlier COVID-19 rapid test.
Chaclag did not say when the rapid test was conducted and is unsure when Sanchez’s swab test will be released.
Read: Ex-mayor behind torture, murder of two 19-year-olds may be released for ‘good behavior’
Sanchez was convicted in 1995 to seven life sentences for the heinous torture and killing of University of the Philippines Los Baños students, Eileen Sarmenta and her boyfriend, Allan Gomez in 1993. Sanchez was later caught with over a million-peso worth of meth stashed inside a Virgin Mary statue while behind bars.
Despite this, the notorious ex-mayor was considered eligible for early release last year under the controversial Republic Act No. 10592, also known as the Good Conduct Time Allowance. The law deducts as many as 30 days from a prisoner’s term for every month served if they display good behavior during detention, effectively cutting some sentences in half.
After widespread public outrage, the government announced that Sanchez might not qualify for early release from prison after all due to several behavioral violations he made in detention, including possessing meth.
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