DOJ welcomes 8 inmates’ action vs revised IRR of GCTA

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday welcomed the move of eight inmates of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) that would determine if the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) would withstand legal scrutiny.

Guevarra issued this reaction after eight NBP inmates, who were convicted of heinous crimes, filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Supreme Court (SC) last Sept. 24, requesting that they be qualified for the reduction of prison sentences because of good behavior.

“All I can say is that I’ve eagerly awaited the filing of this petition. Considering that some important provisions of Republic Act 10592 have been interpreted differently by various groups, I have as much interest as anyone in knowing the correct legal interpretation. Only the Supreme Court has the final word on the issue,” he said.

“I want an affirmation by the SC that my reading of the law was correct. And if it was wrong, I want to take corrective measures right away (together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government),” he added.

The justice chief said he could not give comments on the actual petition filed by the NBP inmates. He deferred to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that would defend them and submit a proper comment on their behalf.

Named respondents were Guevarra, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) chief Allan Sullano Iral.

Last week, the eight NBP inmates who were convicted of rape, murder or homicide filed a 32-page petition for certiorari and prohibition asking the SC to invalidate certain provisions of the GCTA that disqualified certain inmates from benefitting from the GCTA, time allowance for study, teaching and mentoring; and immediate release of a person deprived of liberty (PDL) under preventive imprisonment.

Not qualified to benefit from RA 10592 or the Expanded GCTA law are inmates who are recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and PDLs convicted of heinous crimes.

They asked the high court to order “the BuCor and the BJMP to re-compute with reasonable dispatch the time allowances due to the petitioners and all those who are similarly situated and, thereafter, to cause their immediate release from imprisonment in case of full service of sentence, unless they are being confined for some other lawful cause.”

They are also against the retroactive application of RA 10592 because it would prejudice the rights of the petitioners and others who are in the same situation. – Evelyn Macairan