General Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has ordered the deployment of police tracker teams to locate the 1,700 convicted criminals, including three of the perpetrators of the rape-slay of Chiong sisters in Cebu, who were released through the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law.
Albayalde said his order is in compliance with the directive of the President for all the GCTA beneficiaries to surrender within 15 days to avoid suffering the consequences of being subjected to police operations.
“They will be treated as fugitives if they choose not to surrender,” said Albayalde.
“As fugitives from justice, these convicts can be subjected to warrantless arrest,” he warned.
Earlier, Albayalde ordered an organization of tracker teams which were put on standby in anticipation of the arrest order of the President.
On Wednesday night, President Duterte gave the order and also demanded the resignation of Bureau of Corrections director Nicanor Faeldon who reportedly signed the release papers of more than 800 heinous crime convicts less than a year after he assumed the post.
Among those he reportedly signed was the release papers of the three of the convicts of rape-slay case of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in Cebu in 1997, some convicts in drug trafficking and that of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez who is a convict in the rape-slay of UP Los Banos student Eileen Sarmenta.
It was the release order for Sanchez that broke out in the media, triggering public outcry and eventual Senate hearing wherein the senators expressed belief that Faeldon was lying during the probe. Some senators also insinuated multi-million corruption in exchange for GCTA.
Faeldon, who was among the idealist soldiers who staged the Oakwood mutiny to protest the alleged massive corruption during the Arroyo administration, was also implicated in the release of P6.4 billion worth of shabu when he was still the head of the Bureau of Customs.
PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said that they will coordinate with the BuCor for the names and addresses of the 1,700 convicts that Duterte wanted to be returned to jail.
“To ensure inter-agency coordination and secure the exact list and addresses of these convicts, we will designate a liaison officer with the Department of Justice and BuCor,” said Banac.
The PNP leadership earlier lamented the release of big-time drug convicts, saying some of them were arrested at the expense of the life and limbs of police officers.
Albayalde also wanted that the PNP be notified of the convicts that would be benefited by the GCTA Law and before they are released for assessment and review based on their intelligence networks. (Aaron Recuenco)
