Murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez

 Rogelio G. Balo Ph.D.

 

*Synopsis

On the night of June 28, 1993, Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, students of the 

University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB), were abducted at gunpoint by men working for Antonio Sanchez, the mayor of Calauan, Laguna. 

The students were brought to Sanchez's farm in Barangay Curba, where both were bound and gagged. Court records showed Sanchez's men also brought Gomez along "to avoid complications". The students were brought inside a resthouse, where Sarmenta was taken into Sanchez's room while Gomez was beaten by Luis Corcolon, Rogelio "Boy" Corcolon, Zoilo Ama and George Medialdea and thereafter thrown out of the resthouse.

Pepito Kawit struck Gomez's diaphragm with the butt of an Armalite, causing Gomez to fall against a cement box. Brion thought Allan was already dead, but Kawit said that his death would come later. Aurelio Centeno joined Sanchez's personal aides Edwin Cosico and Raul Alorico to watch television at the adjacent resthouse. Alorico told Centeno that Sanchez had been eagerly waiting for the group and worried that they would not arrive.

At around 1:00 a.m. the next day, a crying Sarmenta was dragged out of the resthouse by Luis and Medialdea, still bound and gagged and now stripped of her shorts. Sanchez, clad merely in a white polo shirt, appeared and thanked Luis and Medialdea for the gift. He is alleged to have stated: "I am through with her. She's all yours." When asked what would happen to Gomez, Medialdea assured the mayor that they would also kill him for full measure. The students were then loaded in a Tamaraw van by the appellants and headed for Calauan, followed closely by the ambulance. Kawit finished off Gomez with a single gunshot from his Armalite.

The men then stopped at a sugarcane field at Sitio Paputok, Mabacan, Calauan, and gang-raped Sarmenta. Kawit invited Centeno to join the assault, but Centeno refused as he could not, in conscience, bear the crime being committed. Despite Sarmenta's pleas to spare her life, Luis Corcolon fired his baby Armalite at her, and ordered Centeno to get rid of her body.

Following separate investigations by different law enforcement agencies, prosecutors pursued charges against Sanchez and his men, but did not include Teofilo "Kit" Alqueza, son of Gen. Dictador Alqueza, as respondents. Sanchez had claimed Alqueza was the mastermind behind the incident.

Conviction.

On March 14, 1995, Pasig Judge Harriet Demetriou concluded the 16-month Sarmenta-Gomez murder trial with the finding that Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez and several henchmen, then-PNP Calauan Deputy Chief George Medialdea, Luis Corcolon, Rogelio "Boy" Corcolon, Zoilo Ama, Baldwin Brio, and Pepito Kawit were found guilty of seven (7) counts of rape with homicide for the rape and killing of Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of Allan Gomez, Sarmenta's friend. The convicts were each sentenced to seven (7) terms of reclusion perpetua or maximum of 40 years of imprisonment and ordered to pay damages to the heirs of the victims.

Demetriou, in her 132-page decision, described the crime as being borne out of "a plot seemingly hatched in hell".

*Wikipedia

The Higher They Rise, The Harder They Fall

 Antonio Leyza Sanchez (c. 1949 – March 27, 2021) was a Filipino politician who served as Mayor of Calauan, Laguna from 1980 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993.

 Sanchez and his henchmen were convicted in 1995 for the rape and murder of Mary Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna, two years earlier.

* In 2019, reports of Sanchez's possible early release from prison drew public outrage, prompting the revision of the implementing rules and regulations of the expanded Good Conduct Time Allowance law. Under the new rules, those convicted of heinous crimes are disqualified from having their jail sentence commuted for good behavior.

 After serving 24 years of his sentence, an ex-Mayor in the Philippines, sentenced to 360 years in jail for rape and multiple murders could walk free.

 The case of Sanchez that has sparked questions about the role played Salvador Panelo, his defense lawyer in the murder trial case, and now the spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte. Huh?

Divine Intervention ?

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)

Antonio Sanchez, the convicted former mayor of Calauan, Laguna, died on Saturday, the Bureau of Corrections said.Bureau of Corrections spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag told CNN Philippines Sanchez was found unresponsive in his jail cell at the New Bilibid Prison at around 7 am. His cellmates brought Sanchez to the state penitentiary hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

 "Matanda na rin kasi... Ang dami niyang underlying illnesses (He's old. He also has many underlying illnesses)," Chaclag said.

 The 74-year-old former mayor had "chronic kidney disease, hypertension, recurring gastroenteritis, prostate problems, and asthma," Chaclag said in a separate statement.

 Sanchez was last seen alive at around 10 pm on Friday as he prepared to sleep, Chaclag added. "When his cell mates woke him up this morning, he was unresponsive," he said.

 The jail official said "there is no sign of foul play," adding Sanchez's family has been informed about his death.

 In a text message to reporters, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the BuCor is still trying to secure the family's permission for an autopsy.

 Sanchez was hospitalized in September last year due to shortness of breath, gastroenteritis, and electrolyte imbalance, the BuCor said at the time. He tested negative for COVID-19, but was diagnosed with moderate-risk community acquired pneumonia, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and benign prostatic hypertrophy.

 Guevarra said the controversial issues surrounding Sanchez's GCTA have now become "moot and academic.".

*Asian Magazine

 

Regidor Roque

Fresno, CA USA

July 16, 2021

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