Antonio Sanchez (politician)

Antonio Leyza Sanchez (died March 27, 2021) was a Filipino politician who served as mayor of Calauan, Laguna from 1980 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He is the convicted mastermind in the murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, both students of the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB), in 1993.

Sanchez was pronounced dead on arrival at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital on March 27, 2021.

A report by GMA News showed that Sanchez could have walked free in August 2019, according to a document bearing the signature of Bureau of Corrections director Nicanor Faeldon.

Sanchez was serving seven counts of reclusión perpetua (40 years for each count) for the crimes until his death. On January 25, 1999, the Supreme Court of the Philippines affirmed the decision of the Regional Trial Court. On August 29, 1999, Sanchez was sentenced to two counts of reclusion perpetua by the Supreme Court for the murders of Nelson and Rickson Peñalosa.

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 (only some of whom were policemen) were guilty of seven counts of rape with homicide for the rape and killing of Sarmenta and the killing of Sarmenta's friend. Demetriou, in her 132-page decision, described the crime as being borne out of "a plot seemingly hatched in hell".

Sanchez' case was the inspiration for the 1994 film Humanda Ka Mayor!: Bahala Na Ang Diyos. The film, produced by Regal Entertainment and Golden Lions Productions, is based on Mayor Sanchez's account and criminal activities (with his name in the film changed to "Mayor Miguel Beltran").

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.