Roxas claims no drastic changes made on GCTA law during his tenure
Published Sep 19, 2019 11:21 am
By Czarina Nicole Ong-Ki
Former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas has maintained that there were no drastic changes made in the provisions of Republic Act No. 10592 regarding the release of inmates during his term.
Mar Roxas
(KJ ROSALES / MANILA BULLETIN) R.A. 10592 provided that the computation of preventive imprisonment for purpose of immediate release shall be the actual period of detention with good conduct time allowance (GCTA). However, recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the law. During the terms of Roxas and Senator Leila De Lima who was then the Secretary of Justice, Rule IV, Section 3 of the law's Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) changed the list of disqualified individuals from the GCTA release, and those charged with heinous crimes were allowed early release. In response to the letter sent by Ombudsman Samuel Martires asking both of them to explain, Roxas said that the IRR "faithfully reflects the provisions of R.A. 10592." Contrary to what the Ombudsman said in the letter, Roxas contended that the IRR is "worded, to the greatest extent practicable, in a manner consistent with the law on which it is based." He added that Rule IV, Section 3 of the IRR is a section that deals with the exceptions to the Credit for Preventive Imprisonment (CPI) benefit, and it "captures the classes of accused persons who are disqualified from having the period of their preventive imprisonment deducted from their actual prison terms." Even if, for the sake of argument, that the said law failed to restate all of the disqualifications from the CPI benefit, Roxas explained that the grant of the CPI benefit still will not be given to disqualified persons - namely, those convicted of heinous crimes. In fact, Roxas cited the last paragraph of Article 29, where it is stated that a "person charged with heinous crimes" is excluded from GCTA release. "What is clear, then, is that the disqualifications which you have inquired are all in the IRR. All four disqualifications were included in the rules, and none of them are missing as alleged by many commentaries in recent days," he said. "They are there for everyone to see and for the concerned officers of the government to observe."
Mar Roxas(KJ ROSALES / MANILA BULLETIN) R.A. 10592 provided that the computation of preventive imprisonment for purpose of immediate release shall be the actual period of detention with good conduct time allowance (GCTA). However, recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the law. During the terms of Roxas and Senator Leila De Lima who was then the Secretary of Justice, Rule IV, Section 3 of the law's Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) changed the list of disqualified individuals from the GCTA release, and those charged with heinous crimes were allowed early release. In response to the letter sent by Ombudsman Samuel Martires asking both of them to explain, Roxas said that the IRR "faithfully reflects the provisions of R.A. 10592." Contrary to what the Ombudsman said in the letter, Roxas contended that the IRR is "worded, to the greatest extent practicable, in a manner consistent with the law on which it is based." He added that Rule IV, Section 3 of the IRR is a section that deals with the exceptions to the Credit for Preventive Imprisonment (CPI) benefit, and it "captures the classes of accused persons who are disqualified from having the period of their preventive imprisonment deducted from their actual prison terms." Even if, for the sake of argument, that the said law failed to restate all of the disqualifications from the CPI benefit, Roxas explained that the grant of the CPI benefit still will not be given to disqualified persons - namely, those convicted of heinous crimes. In fact, Roxas cited the last paragraph of Article 29, where it is stated that a "person charged with heinous crimes" is excluded from GCTA release. "What is clear, then, is that the disqualifications which you have inquired are all in the IRR. All four disqualifications were included in the rules, and none of them are missing as alleged by many commentaries in recent days," he said. "They are there for everyone to see and for the concerned officers of the government to observe."