New IRR disqualifies inmates from GCTA

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 50,000 pre-trial detainees in the Philippines have been disqualified from receiving time reduction benefits under the newly revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592, or the Good Conduct Time Allowance law.

The GCTA became controversial when former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez, convicted for the murder of University of the Philippines-Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez in 1993, was slated to benefit from the law’s provisions.

The issue prompted a revision of the IRR and resulted to the exclusion of heinous crime convicts from its benefits – a move that was challenged before the Supreme Court.

Last year, the SC ruled that those convicted of heinous crimes should be eligible for GCTA. It said Article 97 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 10592, clearly provides that all convicted prisoners qualify for GCTA, “as long as they are confined in any penal institution, rehabilitation or detention center, or any other local jail.”

The latest IRR, however, denies GCTA eligibility to those charged for heinous crimes, creating a contradiction where convicted individuals can earn time reductions.

Jayrex Bustinera, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson, said remedying the issue might require an amendment to the law itself.

Signed by former president Benigno Aquino III, the GCTA law aims to grant sentence reductions for persons deprived of liberty based on their good behavior.

Meanwhile, Bureau of Corrections director Gregorio Catapang Jr., citing the SC ruling, said nearly 800 prisoners walked free from the country’s penal systems last month.