(Eagle News)–The re-arrest of convicts released under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law and who did not surrender within the deadline will continue.
This is according to the Department of Justice itself, which earlier requested that the re-arrest be put on hold pending the release of a cleansed Bureau of Corrections list that would serve as the police guide in their operations.
Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete, Department of Justice spokesperson, said President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive stands, after the government has “taken a number of steps to make sure the rearrest will be orderly and peaceful.”
“The PNP has come up with a statement that they will apply all reasonable means to…make sure they respect the rights of individuals,” Perete said.
In the meantime, he said the DOJ was “fast-tracking” the cleansing of the initial BuCor list that was revealed to contain errors during a Senate probe into the problems in BuCor.
According to Perete, from the BuCor list, an initial evaluation showed 41 should be removed as they had already been pardoned or were on parole.
“They should be removed (from the list) since their release was not based on the expanded GCTA law,” Perete explained, noting that the DOJ “want(s) to expedite that process so they can be released immediately.”
He said from the list, those who surrendered within the deadline also needed to be removed.
He added the DOJ was also addressing the request of some surrenderees on Thursday night that they be provided with a certification that they would no longer be subjected to re-arrest once outside.
These surrenderees, Perete said, were found to have been excluded from the BuCor list after verification and had been asked to leave.
“We would also have present documentation that would somehow legally protect those who surrendered that once outside they wont be subjected to rearrest,” Perete said.
Perete had said the cleansed list would be submitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
