IF there is one good thing that came out from the issue of the aborted release of convicted former mayor of Calauan, Laguna – Antonio Sanchez – it is the exposure of the extent of systemic corruption in the Bureau of Corrections.
In the past, corruption in the Bureau of Corrections was in the form of bribes given to prison guards of correction facilities, particularly the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City, for special treatments as well as entry and use of drugs and weapons, among others.
The recently exposed corruption in the form of “good conduct time allowance sale” is the worst form as it violates the core or essence of justice and it destroys the criminal justice system in our country.
The corrections aspect of our criminal justice system calls for the reform of those convicted of crimes. The Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) has been instituted in the system from the enactment of the Revised Penal Code of our country. The 2013 GCTA Law provided for “more allowances,” partly to address the jail congestion problem we have in the country.
The 2013 law did not make any change on the fundamental principle of “good conduct.”
When such allowance is given a price, its essence becomes money and no longer good conduct.
When GCTA becomes available for sale, our corrections system becomes a money game. Only convicted criminals who can afford the price set by corruption Bureau of Corrections officials can have a prison term shorter than what our courts decided based on our laws.
This is an illustration of how a branch of government (in this case the Executive Branch, particularly the Bureau of Corrections) can negate the public interest actions of other branches of the government (the Judiciary through the actions of the court and the Legislative Branch through the laws passed by the Philippine Congress).
The 2013 GCTA Law may have its weaknesses, just as some of our legislators already admitted, but for public interests to be served faithfully, the Bureau of Corrections and the Department of Justice for that matter should have either addressed such weaknesses in the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) or have brought the matter of such weaknesses to the attention of the Philippine Congress.
It is clear that the absence of genuine commitment to public interest, or the priority focus on personal interests, caused the action of corrupt Bureau of Corrections officials and employees to use the weaknesses of the law as means to sell GCTA.
Let us hope that the Duterte Administration will make the corrupt Bureau of Corrections officials and employees experience a life in prison where freedom does not have a price tag.
