Good conduct

I am no lawyer, but the recent Good Conduct Time Allowance issue tells us so many things. From hindsight, the law was passed in 2013 which allows persons deprived of liberty to avail of early release depending on their behavior in prison. Just recently the law was in the limelight when former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez was said to be eligible for this privilege. It spread to the Chiong sisters rape-slay case where it was found that three of the seven convicts were released already. What a surprise!

I sympathize with the parents of the Chiong sisters who went through the agony of losing their children and attending every trial to get the seven men convicted. Although up until today there is much question about the conviction, we are seeing two parents who just want justice for their children. They are weeping for not being able to find the other sister, Jacqueline who until today remains missing. The parents already placed in their mindset that she is dead. That being said, it is with great pain to hear that when the convicts were meted a double life sentence, they will be on early release instead. Why? Because of good conduct. Conduct is very subjective and is judged on a case-to-case basis. How do we quantify conduct? It makes it even harder to answer that question.

What boggles us more is the fact that even the director-general of the Bureau of Corrections cannot remember who signed the release order of the three convicts. It seems like there’s something going on inside the bureau and should be studied immediately. As to firing of the current leader, it would be better to have him out while the investigation is ongoing.

The public doesn’t want former criminals lurking in the streets. While we welcome the thought of them being reformed, we still don’t know what they might do. Also, the law has been very clear about their sentence. Should we just disregard the law like that? If so, then there is no use anymore for the judiciary. It’s quite complex and should be given careful study. Another question is why was the law even passed? Were our legislators too trusting in the power of change? I’d like to think there were more pressing issues at the time, but the GCTA was passed instead.

In the coming days, we will be faced with more issues like this. I don’t know how this issue will affect other inmates but this I know: We all deserve justice, everyone does. It is only achieved by due process. If there is none, then it’s basically useless. We can’t question the law when it is at its finality, unless there is compelling evidence to reopen such cases. Our leaders are brilliant, they know what to do. I hope their conscience will tell them what is right too.