Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Thursday stressed to the Department of Justice (DoJ) that the agency should ensure equal and fair treatment of inmates and to fix the country’s correctional facilities.
In a statement, the senator reiterated that all prisoners must be treated equally in jail, and that the patronage culture in correctional facilities must be eliminated.
“To the DoJ, do your sworn duties. I am sure you are very competent. Let us fix our correctional facilities,” Go said. “All prisoners, rich or poor must be treated equally. There should be no favoring anyone in jail.”
Go also reaffirmed his support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to rearrest convicts who were released due to the wrongful application of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.
“I fully support the call for the immediate arrest of all recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees, and prisoners convicted of heinous crimes who were released because of the wrongful application of Good Conduct Time Allowances under Republic Act (RA) No. 10592,” said Go.
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The lawmaker added that actions to be taken by government must not be limited to the re-arrests, as there are still allegations of GCTA for sale and special treatment in correctional facilities.
“We don’t have to stop there. There are still allegations of GCTA for sale. There still exists special treatment in jail and contrabands still proliferate. This is what happens. This is the reality. We have to get to the bottom of this to put a stop to it,” said Go.
He also urged his fellow senators to amend immediately the Revised Penal Code, which was earlier modified by RA 10592, to address contentious issues and ambiguities in the application of the said law.
“To my fellow Senators, we have to do our part for the people. Let us heed the call of the nation. We need to amend the law immediately to make it clear that recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees, and those convicted of heinous crimes cannot be granted time allowances,” said Go.
Go also demanded transparency from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) when it comes to the release of any prisoner.
“Let us force the BuCor to be transparent in the releases of any prisoner,” he said.
