By Aaron Recuenco  Government investigators should focus the probe on the people who processed and approved the questionable release of convicts using the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said. Mar Roxas
(KJ ROSALES / MANILA BULLETIN) He is referring to the order of the Office of the Ombudsman to explain or clarify the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the GCTA Law, or Republic Act 10592), which he as a former secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and former Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima helped craft. The Office of the Ombudsman has created a fact-finding team to investigate the wrong implementation of the GCTA law amid the controversy on the release of almost 2,000 heinous crime convicts. “Apparently, the Ombudsman will investigate the GCTA issue. Well and good, and I could answer all their questions,” said Roxas. But this early, Roxas said there appears to be an attempt to divert the issue away from those who should really be held accountable for the release and attempt to release more heinous crime convicts that include former Calauan Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez. For one, Roxas said those who should be investigated are the officials who approved the release of the convicts and members of any committee at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) who did not follow the guidelines, particularly on giving credits to the convicts. “Those who gave credits for ‘good conduct’, did they really deserve good conduct credits or these were just invented?” said Roxas. Recently, some of the government officials and their staunch supporters blamed Roxas and de Lima for the GCTA controversy, citing the IRR crafted by the two former officials as the reason. Critics said the media spin to blame Roxas and de Lima is just a smokescreen to divert the public attention away from the issue of accountability in releasing the heinous crime convicts, including those involved in high-profile drug cases. “May batas na pinasa di ba? Ang nilalaman ng IRR ay nakakuwadro sa batas, hindi puwedeng humigit sa RA 10592,” Roxas explained. “Bakit ang sumulat ng IRR and pinupuntirya ninyo?,” he stressed. RA 10592 was signed into law by President Aquino on May 29, 2013 as it aims to reward detainees who indeed showed signs of rehabilitating themselves and at the same time, to decongest detention facilities. On March 26, 2014, the IRR of the GCTA Law was released with Roxas and de Lima as signatories. The IRR took effect the following month. Starting June 2014, several inmates questioned the IRR before the Supreme Court since the IRR is not retroactive, which means the IRR excluded those who were already convicted before the GCTA Law took effect. On June 25, 2019, the Supreme Court granted the petition of the inmates to make the GCTA Law retroactive. The implementation of the GCTA Law became controversial after journalists were tipped of the impending release of Sanchez who was convicted of a rape-slay of a UP Los Baños student and her friend. BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon was sacked from his post due to the controversy, especially after a Senate probe revealed that he was the one who signed the release papers of Sanchez. President Duterte earlier ordered all the 1,914 GCTA-freed convicts to surrender in 15 days (until September 19) or risk being re-arrested.