(Eagle News)–As far as Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra is concerned, Rolito Go, who was convicted of the 1991 killing of a Dela Salle University student in a road rage incident in San Juan City, does not need to be re-arrested.
According to Guevarra, Go, after all, has served his sentence in full after it had been commuted, and not only because of the Good Conduct Time Allowance law.
Go was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison in 1993, but in 2016, the Supreme Court ordered his release, upholding a lower court’s decision in favor of Go’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Go had argued he should have been released in August 2013 because of his allowances for having a colonist status, good conduct and on preventive suspension.
As a result of this, Guevarra said Go should not have been included in the Bureau of Corrections list of those who were released under the GCTA law in the first place.
President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the convicts released under the law to surrender in 15 days or be treated as fugitives.
This was after reports some convicts had been released under the law after paying an amount to unscrupulous BuCor personnel.
Go should therefore not be the target of police tracker teams who were supposed to go after those who did not surrender within the President’s deadline, Guevarra said.
Earlier, National Capital Region Police Office chief Guillermo Eleazar said Go was among those who did not surrender within the 15-minute deadline.
Police reportedly went to Go’s house in Quezon City to re-arrest him, but did not find him there.
The Department of Justice has asked the Philippine National Police to hold the re-arrest of convicts released under the GCTA law who did not surrender, pending the cleansing of the BuCor list that would serve as the authorities’ guide for the re-arrest.With a report from Moira Encina
