Court orders release of Go

MANILA, Philippines -  A Muntinlupa court has ordered the release of convicted murderer Rolito Go, according to a prison official last night.

Superintendent Fajardo Lansangan of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) maximum-security compound said he received the court order from Judge Guerrero at 4:04 p.m. last Friday.

However, Go’s release is still being held for further evaluation by the Department of Justice, a source said.

The source said Go has been ordered release “after reportedly serving his full sentence.”

“We are not sure of the basis of the court’s order, but the Bureau of Correction received it, “ Lansangan told The STAR in a phone interview last night.

He said the NBP, through the Office of the Solicitor General, filed an appeal before Guerrero’s sala on Monday.

“He cannot be released yet because there is a pending appeal,” Lansangan said in Filipino.

Go, a construction magnate, was convicted for killing De La Salle University student Eldon Maguan in a road rage incident in 1991.

Maguan, then 25 years old, was driving along Wilson Street in Greenhills, San Juan when he encountered Go. Wilson was a one-way street and Go was counter-flowing, driving in the opposite direction.

Maguan died after Go shot him in the head.

A San Juan court convicted Go in 1993 to serve 40 years in prison.

After his conviction, Go escaped from jail and was recaptured in 1996.

In 2011, a television network exposed that Go left the NBP without permission. A year later, he was reportedly missing again in the state penitentiary and was captured days later.