(Eagle News)–Over 600 convicts who were believed to have been prematurely released under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law have surrendered so far.
According to Undersecretary Markk Perete, Department of Justice spokesperson, the 692 are now in Bureau of Corrections custody.
The convicts released under the law, which reduces the sentence of inmates based on good conduct, have until Sept. 19 to surrender or be treated as fugitives based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive.
The President gave the order following the release of convicts of heinous crimes under the law, and the near-release of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted of the murder and rape of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and her friend Allan Gomez in the 1990s.
The President has sacked Nicanor Faeldon as BuCor director general over the mess.
On Monday, Sept. 16, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año signed the recommended revised implementing rules and regulations of the GCTA law.
The signed IRR already explicitly ban convicts of heinous crimes from availing of the benefits of the law.
Guevarra and Año also gave the joint DOJ and Department of the Interior and Local Government panel that reviewed the original IRR an additional 60 days to complete its review of the uniform policy and guidelines on GCTA accreditation.
