The murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez occurred on June 28, 1993, in Calauan, Laguna, Philippines. The case involved police personnel and the late Antonio Sanchez, the former mayor of Calauan, who were tried and convicted of the crime. Sanchez was accused of masterminding the abduction of Sarmenta and her companion, Gomez, and the subsequent rape and murder of Sarmenta and the torture and murder of Gomez. The victims were both students of the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB).
On the night of June 28, 1993, Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, both students of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, were abducted by men of the late Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez and forcibly shoved into a white vehicle.
The two were brought to Erais Farm in Barangay Curba, which was said to be owned by the mayor. Upon arriving there, Sarmenta was taken to Sanchez's room while Gomez was left to be beaten by the mayor's staff, namely Luis Corcolon, Rogelio "Boy" Corcolon, Zoilo Ama and George Medialdea. After that, Sanchez ordered the two men to bring Sarmenta and Gomez to a Toyota Tamaraw FX vehicle, which the suspects also boarded.
Jose "Pepito" Kawit followed up by striking Gomez's diaphragm with the butt of a rifle, causing Gomez to fall against a cement box. Brion thought Gomez was already dead, but Kawit said, "His death will come later."
Aurelio Centeno, who eventually became a star witness, joined Sanchez's personal aides Edwin Cosico and Raul Alorico to watch television at the adjacent resthouse. Alorico told Centeno that the mayor had been eagerly waiting for the group and was worried they would not arrive.
At around 1:00 a.m. of the next day, a crying Sarmenta was dragged out of the resthouse by Corcolon and Medialdea, her hair disheveled, mouth covered by a handkerchief, hands still tied, and stripped of her shorts. The mayor, clad only in a white polo, appeared and thanked Corcolon and Medialdea for the "gift". He said, "I am through with her. She's all yours". When asked what will happen to Gomez, Medialdea assured the mayor they would kill him for full measure. Sarmenta and Gomez were then loaded in the Tamaraw van by the appellants and headed for Calauan, followed closely by an ambulance. Kawit finished off Gomez with a single gunshot from his rifle.
The men then stopped at a sugarcane field in Sitio Paputok, Kilometro 74 of Barangay Mabacan, and gang-raped Sarmenta. Kawit invited Centeno to join but Centeno refused as he could not, in conscience, bear the assault being committed on Sarmenta.
At the end of the gang-rape, the six men decided to shoot Sarmenta in the face in order to hide their crime. When Sarmenta cried while kneeling and pleaded to the six men to spare her life, she said to them, "Please, you have taken everything from me. My shame, my honor. But please, spare me my breath. It's the only thing I've got left."
Corcolon gagged Sarmenta's mouth with a handkerchief and fired his rifle at her face, causing her instant death, and ordered Centeno to get rid of Sarmenta's body. However, the dead body of Sarmenta remained inside the van, her face bearing the gunshot wound, her mouth stuffed with a handkerchief, her melon orange t-shirt rolled up to her shoulders exposing her chest and her underwear pushed down near her white rubber shoes.
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.
On June 29, 1993, after Sarmenta's mother, Clara Sarmenta, received a phone call from someone else, they arrived at the site where they found Sarmenta's body inside the white van. In an examination conducted by PNP Crime Laboratory Office, it was found out that Sarmenta had been raped before being killed. Meanwhile, the body of Gomez was found in the grassy area in another village in Calauan, Laguna; Gomez sustained two gunshot wounds: one in the head and one in the back.
The two men later surrendered at the police headquarters where they identified themselves as the personnel of Sanchez. They also explicitly pointed the finger at Sanchez as the mastermind of murder and killing of the two victims.
The case was considered to be the most challenging for the investigators, due to the witnesses incriminating Sanchez and his men for the case. A vehicle, a Toyota Tamaraw FX, used in the kidnapping of Sarmenta and Gomez was surrendered to the police. It was not before that, after they committed the crime, the vehicle was cleaned in front of the Calauan municipal hall. The authorities found a spent cartridge near the body of Gomez.
On March 14, 1995, Pasig Judge Harriet Demetriou concluded the 16-month SarmentaâÂÂGomez murder trial with the finding that Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez and several henchmen (only some of whom were policemen) were guilty of raping and murdering Sarmenta and killing Sarmenta's friend. Demetriou, in her 132-page decision, described the crime as being borne out of a "plot seemingly hatched in hell." At the time of his conviction, the Philippines had the death penalty, which was briefly reinstated due to public anger over crime. Demetriou indicated that she would've sentenced both Sanchez and his bodyguard to deaths were it not for the fact that the murders were committed barely six months before the law went into effect on December 31, 1993.
Sanchez received (7) terms of reclusion perpetua (40 years per term) for the crime. On January 25, 1999, the Philippine Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Regional Trial Court. On August 29, 1999, Sanchez was given a double life term by the Supreme Court for a different case (Murders of Nelson & Rickson Peñalosa in 1991).
A report by GMA News showed that Sanchez could have walked free in August 2019, according to a document bearing the signature of then-Bureau of Corrections director Nicanor Faeldon.
The document said the release order was for one Antonio Leyza Sanchez, "who was found to have served 40 years upon retroactive application of RA No. 10592 and was certified to have no other legal cause to be further detained, shall be released from confinement." RA 10592 is the law allowing convicts an early release based on good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
Sanchez's kin had said they were informed about Sanchez's impending release, but public outrage prompted the government to review the GCTA law. On September 4, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte fired Nicanor Faeldon for approving the release of Sanchez.
On March 27, 2021, Sanchez was pronounced dead on arrival at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital, his cause of death is still unknown, he was 74.
Mayor Sanchez's involvement in the SarmentaâÂÂGomez murder case was the inspiration for the 1994 film '. The film, produced by Regal Films and Golden Lions Productions, is based on Mayor Sanchez's account, with his name in the film changed to Mayor Miguel Beltran was portrayed by Dick Israel, and criminal activities. Sunshine Cruz portraying Sarmenta and Jeffrey Santos portraying Gomez.
The case was first featured on Philippine crime docudrama program ' in 2006, and in 2019, dubbed as the "Sarmenta-Gomez Rape-Slay Case."
The case was also featured on a Philippine crime documentary program Crime Klasik as its first episode, "Ex-Mayor Antonio Sanchez Case."
The case was also featured on a Philippine investigative docudrama program Imbestigador as its 34th episode, "Gomez-Sarmenta Rape-Slay and Murder Case.", Mayor Antonio Sanchez was portrayed by Jim Pebanco. Sanya Lopez portraying Sarmenta and Juancho Trivino portraying Gomez.
The 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival entry "Uninvited", starring the Philippinesâ Star for All Seasons Vilma Santos-Recto, Lotlot De Leon, Elijah Canlas, Gabby Padilla, Nadine Lustre, and Aga Muhlach was loosely inspired by the rape-slay crime of Mayor Antonio Sanchez.