Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra during a press conference on Sept. 4, 2018. Guevarra announced on Tuesday, Aug. 20, that over 11,000 inmates and possibly including Antonio Sanchez could be released due to a Supreme Court ruling on a law that increases good conduct time allowances for prisoners. Photo by Edd Gumban, The Philippine STAR
The case of Mary Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez has come to the fore again, more than 25 years since the crime was committed, after the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that Sanchez is one of over 11,000 inmates that could be released in the next two months following a recent Supreme Court decision retroactively implementing Republic Act No. 10592.
The law, which amended Articles 29, 94, 97, 98 and 99 of the Revised Penal Code, increased the good conduct time allowance of inmates, enabling them to reduce their sentences upon computation.
When former president Benigno Aquino III signed the law in 2013, its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) indicated that the law could be applied only prospectively, meaning, in new cases after the law was signed.
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