House to amend GCTA law

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will pass a bill amending the law granting good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to convicts.

“We will propose the amendment of the law to clarify who can and cannot apply for GCTA. We will harmonize its provisions,” Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles told ANC yesterday.

Nograles, vice chairman of the House justice committee, said the confusion arises from the failure of Congress to explicitly exclude heinous crime convicts from the grant of good conduct time allowance.

“We will reconcile Sections 1 and 3 of the law,” Nograles said.

The law he referred to is Republic Act No. 10592, signed by then president Benigno Aquino III on May 29, 2013.

For Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, one of the authors of RA 10592, there is no such confusion.

“The law clearly provides that persons convicted of heinous crimes are excluded from its coverage, meaning the grant of GCTA. But if it is unclear to those implementing it, I will support an effort to clarify it,” he said.

Rodriguez said he would also propose the restoration of good conduct time allowances under the Revised Penal Code before these were changed upon the initiative of the Senate.

“The GCTAs ranged from five days to a maximum of 15 days. Now, they are 20 days to 30 days or one month for every month of good conduct. Those are too generous,” he said.

Section 1 is about counting “preventive imprisonment” or detention as part of the term of an accused in case he is convicted. It provides that the offender could apply for GCTA and could be released while undergoing trial if the period of his detention is equal to or exceeds his expected sentence.

However, it also provides, “That recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees, and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage of this Act.”

On the other hand, Section 3 states, “The good conduct of any offender qualified for credit for preventive imprisonment (under Section 1)… or of any convicted prisoner in any penal institution, rehabilitation or detention center or any other local jail shall entitle him to the following deductions from the period of his sentence.”

The section proceeds to enumerate the deductions: 20 days for every month of good conduct during the first two years of imprisonment, 23 days from the third year to the fifth year, 25 days from sixth year to the 10th, and 30 days for each month starting from the 11th year.

In the amendments that the House would propose, Nograles said the GCTA exclusions in Section 1 would be reiterated in Section 3 for clarity.

In a recent interview also on ANC, asked how he interpreted the law when he was the Bureau of Corrections chief, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said Section 1 refers to persons charged with heinous crimes who are not qualified for GCTA, while Section 3 states that “any convicted prisoner” could apply for good conduct time deduction.

Dela Rosa has admitted releasing 120 heinous crime convicts during his time. More than 2,000 of such convicts had been released between 2014 and this year.

The President has ordered them back to prison and their GCTA recomputed.

More than 350 prisoners have already surrendered to various police units and precincts nationwide, according to latest data of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Office of the Ombudsman, on the other hand, is investigating Dela Rosa and other former BuCor chiefs, including Nicanor Faeldon, in connection with the release of heinous crime convicts.

Also being investigated are BuCor officers who have to something do with the grant of GCTA. The ombudsman has suspended 30 of them.

In a recent Senate hearing, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra shared the view of Rodriguez that Section 1 of the law is clear that heinous crime convicts “are excluded from the coverage of this Act.” – With  Romina Cabrera, Ghio Ong, Non Alquitran