Jailhouses rocked Controversy has descended on the penal system as a law meant to decongest local jails signed during the past regime was suspected abused to set hardened but influential convicts free. AFP

The more than 1,000 beneficiaries of the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law who were convicted of heinous crimes should be returned to jail, Malacañang said yesterday, amid the furor created by the measure designed to decongest jails.

They should be recovered until they serve the full term of their service

“Obviously, they should be recovered until they serve the full term of their service,” President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said in Beijing.

The inmates were released since 2014 on the basis of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA law enacted in 2013 that increased the days that may be deducted from the terms of prisoners who show good behavior.

Data from the Bureau of Corrections showed that of the 22,049 persons deprived of liberty released from 2014 to 2019 due to GCTA, 1,914 had been convicted of heinous crimes, such as murder and rape.

Of those convicted of heinous crimes, 797 were sentenced for murder, 758 for rape, 274 for robbery with violence or intimidation, 48 for drug-related offenses, 29 for parricide, five for kidnapping with illegal detention, and three for destructive arson.

Panelo, who is also chief legal counsel, said the law excludes recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes.

“That cannot be done because the law is very clear,” Panelo explained.

He further noted that the application of the law can be revoked on beneficiaries who are not qualified to receive it.

In explaining the release of the 1,914 inmates, Frederic Santos, chief of the BuCor’s legal office, said the bureau previously interpreted the law as covering all convicted prisoners.

Calls to review GCTA guidelines resulted in the suspension of the provision after news of the possible early release of former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez convicted for the 1993 Sarmenta-Gomez rape-slay case, which caused a public outrage.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra maintained that if the Chinese convicts released through GCTA are still in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), they will be prevented from leaving.

This was the reaction given by Guevarra to queries in connection to the claim of Sen. Panfilo Lacson that the convicted Chinese drug lords were released and are lined up for deportation by the BI.

“If these Chinese drug convicts are still in the custody of the BI, we should hold them until the IRR (implementing rules and regulation) has been reviewed and the joint committee has determined the proper course of action,” Guevarra said.

Lacson told reporters that he had acquired a list of convicts released by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

The four convicted drug lords released through the GCTA law got out of jail despite the vehement objection of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the agency wrote a formal letter to the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) last February to oppose the release of Chan Chit Yue, Kin San Ho, Ching Che, and Wu Hing Sum — all convicted of peddling illegal drugs.

The four Chinese drug lords were among the hundreds of inmates freed last June.

Aquino said the release of the four is questionable as they were all convicted for violation of Section 15 (sale, administration, dispensation, delivery, transportation and distribution of regulated drugs), Article III of Republic Act 6425, or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, with a penalty of reclusion perpetua.

“PDEA, in a letter dated 13 February 2019, addressed to Atty. Ronalyn M. Opia-Gonzaga, Chief Parole Officer of BPP, objected to the possible grant of executive clemency to due to the gravity of their offenses,” Aquino said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said it is the BuCor who should be blamed for the negative effect of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA law, and not the legislature.

“I only remember (late Senator) Miriam (Santiago) saying that the bill will help decongest NBP (New Bilibid Prison) from aging and ailing convicts whose behavior have shown rehabilitation. If the law is being abused, then it’s the officials of BuCor who should be blamed and not the Senate,” Sotto said in a text message.

Lacson also bared that another convicted Taiwanese drug lord was released from Davao Penal Colony and two others from Palawan.

“Aside from the five, there are three more and another one released from Davao Penal Colony. He was a Taiwan(ese) drug (lord). There are two more drug lords released in Palawan last April. Chinese drug lords are being released one after another through the so-called GCTA,” the senator said.

He asked to hold the deportation of the Chinese nationals and throw them back to Building 14 of New Bilibid Prison Maximum Security Compound as the joint panel between the Departments of Justice and Interior and Local Government has suspended the granting of GCTA as per joint department order released on Thursday.

Lacson also asked Guevarra to explain the scheduled deportation as the BuCor is under the authority of DoJ.

The former Police chief also supported Sotto’s statement and said that the release is happening at the level of BuCor.

The Senate Blue Ribbon and Justice Committees’ joint inquiry on Monday will also tackle the issue of abuse regarding the GCTA law.