Duterte ordered Guevarra, Faeldon not to release Antonio Sanchez —Bong Go

President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon not to release convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez, Senator Bong Go said Monday.

"Nung nalaman ni Pangulong Duterte yang balitang yan, ipinarating niya po kay BuCor chief Nick Faeldon at kay Secretary Guevarra na huwag i-release [si Sanchez] upon the order of the higher authority," Go said Monday in an interview on Unang Balita.

"Sino pa ba ang higher authority? Not higher authorities, higher authority. Ibig sabihin ang Pangulo," he added.

Go, who was Duterte's special assistant before he ran for senator in the May 2019 elections, said the order was given Wednesday night.

Go said Duterte was angered by reports that Sanchez — a former mayor of Calauan, Laguna, convicted for the 1993 rape-slay of college student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of Sarmenta's friend Allan Gomez — could be released soon on the basis of a reduced sentence due to "good conduct" in prison.

A lawyer, Duterte believes that Sanchez, having committed a heinous crime, is "excluded" from Republic Act No. 10592, Go said.

"Abugado po ang Pangulo. Pinag-aaralan niya ang batas. Excluded po siya (Sanchez) dun sa Republic Act No. 10592. Sa Section 1, excluded ang lahat ng heinous crimes," he said.

Despite his decades-old conviction, Sanchez has maintained his innocence in the Sarmenta-Gomez killings. —KBK, GMA News