Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to release murder convict Rolito Go, after 25 years of detention.
In a letter by the clerk of Court, Supreme Court Third Division Chairperson Presbitero Velasco Jr. ordered the BuCor Director to release Go immediately.
“You are hereby ordered to immediately release Rolito T. Go unless there are other causes for which he should be further detained,” the dispositive portion of the order read.
In 1991, construction tycoon Go shot dead Eldon Maguan, a 25-year-old engineering student, in a road-rage incident. Go was found guilty of murder.
The Pasig regional trial court then sentenced him to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in jail.
In 2014, Go filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, arguing that he had already completed his prison term by August 2013 — crediting his penal colonist status.
But the BuCor, under former director Franklin Bucayu, asserted Go’s sentence would expire on January 2022.
Go is reportedly suffering from colon cancer.
CNN Philippines’ Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
