SOME 5,000 to 6,000 inmates are being eyed for release before Christmas, including those convicted of heinous crimes due to the Good Conduct Time Allowance or GCTA.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the implementing rules and regulations for the GCTA have already been signed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and are on the table of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
“Right now, the IRR to implement this mass release has already been signed by Secretary Boying Remulla and it is now on the table of Secretary Jonvic Remulla. Tentatively, the signing is on December 2. And then, hopefully, bago matapos ‘yung taon (before the year ends) we will have a mass release of about 5,000 to 6,000 or more.” Catapang said.
Catapang explained that the number of inmates for release also includes those convicted of heinous crimes but the bulk is composed of the elderly and sickly detainees.
“And then, of course, those who have already served their sentence if the GCTA is given to them, ‘yung good conduct and time allowance,” the BuCor chief added.
Previously, inmates convicted of heinous crimes were excluded from the benefits of GCTA.
Catapang said this would further decongest the BuCor-operated prison facilities, including the New Bilibid Prison, by 200 percent from the present 250 percent.
He said the release of qualified inmates would also further alleviate overcrowding in the country’s prison facilities.
Catapang said 500 more inmates have been released between October 22 and November 25, including 104 released yesterday.
Among those released, 347 had served their maximum sentences, 110 were acquitted, 21 received probation, 20 were granted parole, one was allowed bail, and another was released through habeas corpus.
Catapang said last September that between 5,000 to 9,000 inmates out of the 27,311 convicted of heinous crimes are expected to immediately benefit from the Supreme Court ruling that those convicted of heinous crimes are also entitled to avail of the provisions of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA law.
He said that 9,168 inmates convicted of heinous crimes will be eligible for release if the computation is based on the date of detention or 5,039 if the computation is based on the dates they are received in BuCor prison facilities.
He assured the public that an orderly process would be done to prevent a repeat of the 2019 incident when the BuCor, under then-former Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon, released thousands of inmates due to flawed records and alleged tampering of GCTA records.
The flawed records led to the release of an erroneous list of 1,914 heinous crime convicts who were hunted and or asked to return to detention by the authorities.
One of the prisoners who nearly gained freedom due to the GCTA confusion was former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted for the rape slay of UP Los Banos students Eileen Sarmenta and Alan Gomez.
The Senate also conducted an inquiry over allegations that some inmates were forced to pay P50,000 to P1.5 million to prison officials to be released by tampering with their good behavior records.
The controversy led to the sacking of Faeldon and prompted the Department of Justice to tighten the regulation forbidding those convicted of heinous crimes from availing of the GCTA benefits.
The SC en banc issued a ruling last April 3 that nullified the DOJ’s IRR excluding persons convicted of heinous crimes from availing of the benefits of the GCTA law.
The court held that when RA 10592 amended Article 97 of the Revised Penal Code, it used the connecting conjunction “or” to express that “any offender qualified for credit imprisonment pursuant to Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code,” and in the alternative “any convicted prisoner in any penal institution, rehabilitation, or detention center in any other local jail” may avail of the benefits granted by the GCTA law.
The SC ruling explained that the DOJ IRR expanded the scope of the law when it excluded inmates convicted of heinous crimes, recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees from earning GCTA credits.
