Another high profile inmate at the New Bilibid Prison—former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez—died on Saturday of a still unknown cause.
Bureau of Corrections spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said Sanchez was found unresponsive at his cell around 8 a.m., prompting other inmates to bring him to the NBP hospital.
He said at the hospital, the former mayor was declared dead on arrival, and his body is now the subject of autopsy.
“His cell mates last night saw and him he was okay and he slept well. But this morning they noticed that he had not yet woken up,” said Chaclag in a news radio interview.
Early last year, BuCor officials signed a document for the release of Sanchez, saying the former mayor was automatically eligible for Good Conduct Time Allowance.
The bureau later reversed its decision after a public outcry against Sanchez’s release.
Sanchez was serving seven terms of reclusion perpetua (up to 40 years imprisonment) for the rape and murder of University of the Philippines – Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of her boyfriend, Allan Gomez, in 1993.
“As of the time of his death, Mayor Sanchez was still not qualified for release,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.