MANILA, Philippines—Seeing convicted rapist and murderer former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez smiling on television caused more pains and fears for the family of his victims.
“It’s just as painful as before …We’re more fearful this time,” Iluminada Gomez told the Senate committee on justice on Monday.
Her son, Allan, and Eileen Sarmenta were allegedly abducted and killed by Sanchez and his aides in 1993. Both were students of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños.
Gomez said she only learned about Sanchez’s impending release due to good conduct while she is watching the news inside a passenger bus.
Until now, she said, her family has not received an apology from Sanchez.
Parents of slain UP students Aileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez appear before the Senate hearing on GCTA on Monday. INQUIRER photo / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Like Gomez, Sarmenta’s mother, Ma. Clara, was clueless that Sanchez was included in the list of inmates that would soon walk out of jail.
“Nagulat po kami kasi hindi po namin akalain na yung justice na ibinigay sa amin, na bibigyan kami ng seven counts ng life sentence, yun pala bibigyan sya [Sanchez] ng commutation sa kanyang sentensya,” Clara said.
“Masakit kasi sa dibdib ko yung manumbalik yung nangyari sa anak ko noong 1993 kaya ho ako ganito. Sa totoo lang po, araw araw gabi-gabi nanginginig po ako every time I’d seen Sanchez in the TV na tawa-tawa pa sya.”
Her daughter and Allan were abducted by Sanchez’s aides supposedly as a “gift” to Sanchez. The former mayor raped the victim first and then his aides took turns in abusing her.
The two students were both killed by Sanchez’s men.
Clara said her world stopped the year her daughter was brutally killed.
“Parang nawala yung 1993 sa buhay ko,” she said, “Actually po, I seek professional help for me to carry on [with] my life as a normal person.”
She said she already stopped seeking professional help but added: “I feel like wanting to have one again because sa totoo lang po, hindi ko sinasabi sa asawa ko na palagi akong nanginginig, yung aking pakiramdam ay laging natatakot pero I wan to live a normal life also for my children.”
Clara could not help but asked why their daughter’s attacker would even be considered for release.
“Where’s justice here?” she asked.
But the government already clarified that Sanchez was not among those eligible for the program that credits good conduct time allowance for an early release. /jpv
READ: DOJ, BuCor: Sanchez ineligible for release