The Bureau of Corrections has said that some 400 non-heinous crime convicts freed under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law who voluntarily surrendered following President Duterte’s order have been released from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City after assessment of their records.
“Ang released po natin diyan estimate ko lang ito…nasa 400,” Wena Dalagan, BuCor spokesperson, said.
Dalagan added that they are still assessing other GCTA returnees who are now at the NBP who might also be released.
“Meron pang mga natirang returnees na patuloy pa ina-assess ‘yung kanilang record,” she said.
In September, Duterte ordered the 1,914 heinous crime convicts freed under GCTA to surrender due to concerns that they were not qualified for release.
Following Duterte’s order, the Department of Justice said that over 2,100 GCTA beneficiaries voluntarily surrendered.
This means that some were not included in the list of heinous crime convicts required to surrender and were qualified to be released. (Joseph Pedrajas)
