THE THIRTEENTH
SCHOLARS
THE OFFICIAL MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE THIRTEENTH SCHOLARS-THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL PUBLICATION OF PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL CARAGA REGION CAMPUS Volume 4 ~ Issue 01 ~ 4 pages August 2019
PERMANENT INK EDITORIAL
A person remains the same no matter how much time has passed.
More than a decade after former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez’s imprisonment, outrage erupted in the Philippines when a petition allows the potential early release of the 73-year-old convict. The heinous details of Sanchez’s crimes have reemerged, reminding people about what gruesome acts the former mayor did. Sanchez’s crimes are like a tattoo that is forever on his skin, and will never disappear. But because of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, Sanchez might just have a shot at an early release. The GCTA can deduct his sentence and lay out allowance for good conduct especially since he is a person deprived of liberty. His crimes may be as heinous as it can get, but there is no denying the potentiality that the GCTA can impose on Sanchez’s sentence.
The senate is also appalled by this issue after Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa remarked that Sanchez deserves a second chance in life. Dela Rosa further said that Sanchez became a changed man in prison. Behavioral change may dictate his sentence deduction, but will it make up for his crimes? In the eyes of the justice department, however, Sanchez’s crimes and behavior are seen purely as what they are and not a basis for the GCTA. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra indicated that Sanchez would remain imprisoned due to the severity of his crimes. As a pivotal point in whatever justice is imposed on a criminal, crime should be treated as it is and not what it can lead to. In addition, it is not only the justice department along with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) who say that Sanchez should remain in prison. The
If Sanchez claims he has changed as a person, masses also voice out their stand he cannot say in the form of a petition that affirms his seven life sentences. he lost that Sanchez’s crimes deserve nothing more than the penalty indelible mark. they garnered. The horrific crimes of the The things he former mayor will always remain marked in his life written in his did will remain hands with an everlasting stroke. If Sanchez claims he has changed with him as a as a person, he cannot say he lost that indelible mark. The things cloud over his he did will remain with him as a cloud over his head. head.
Antonio Sanchez is a former Laguna town mayor who was convicted for the murder of two college students, one of whom he also raped, more than two decades ago—a crime dubbed as a “plot seemingly hatched in hell.”
INSIDE THIS ISSUE BUWAN NG WIKA
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CLUB FAIR
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FFD 2019
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ART BY JUDD CHRISTIAN BAÑAS