The Department of Justice (DoJ) is set to scrutinize whether the inmates, who got released due to accumulated Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA), deserved to be freed or not, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Guevarra said that will be one of the jobs of the task force which will review the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592, the law that was passed in 2013, which increased the number of GCTAs inmates can get to allow them to be released earlier.
“The task force will ask BuCor for a list of those inmates already released and determine what needs to be done,” he revealed yesterday.
“Should there be any sign of fraud or irregularity, I will order a separate probe,” Guevarra assured.
The task force will be composed of representatives from the DoJ, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), and the Board of Pardons and Parole.
The review will be made in the wake of concerns that convicted former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez could be released early due to his accumulated GCTAs.
Sanchez was convicted of seven counts of rape with homicide for the deaths of University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and her boyfriend Allan Gomez in 1993.
He was also convicted of two counts of murder for the 1991 killing of Nelson Peñalosa and his son Rickson, the supporters of the political rival of Sanchez.
Aside from these, he also got convicted for violating the Code of Conduct of Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. (Jeffrey Damicog)
