Unstopped, new IRR of GCTA law takes effect —DOJ

Without a court order to stop it, the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the 2013 law on good conduct time allowances (GCTA) for prisoners took effect Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

Among other provisions, the new IRR of Republic Act No. 10592 disqualifies habitual delinquents, recidivists, escapees, and persons charged with heinous crimes from earning GCTAs, other time allowances that may shorten the time they serve their sentences, and credit for preventive imprisonment.

The petition filed at the Supreme Court (SC) this week that challenges the introduced exclusions did not ask the justices to issue a temporary restraining order. The SC has ordered the government to comment on the petition.

"In the absence of a restraining order from our courts, we expect our corrections officials to implement RA 10592 and its revised IRR," Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said Friday.

Should the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) encounter difficulties in enforcing the rules, Perete, the department's spokesman, said they "can always seek guidance from the DOJ."

The BuCor manual that describes the specifics of the law at the operational level is still being reviewed by the same DOJ and Department of the Interior and Local Government joint committee that revised the IRR.

"The completion of the manual will only make efficient the processes for its implementation, but should not be used as a ground for not implementing RA 10592," Perete said.

RA 10592's IRR and the BuCor manual underwent review amid issues in their implementation. The revision followed reports that the law could potentially benefit Antonio Sanchez, a former mayor convicted of rape and murder, and other convicts in known cases.

Malacañang and the DOJ then took the stance that persons convicted of heinous crimes should not earn GCTAs, or time credits given to inmates who comply with prison rules.

Formalized by the subsequent revision of the IRR, this position differs from the way the BuCor implemented the law from 2014 to earlier this year -- it said it had granted GCTAs to all convicted prisoners and released nearly 2,000 convicts of heinous crimes as a result.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered these released prisoners to surrender, but the number of surrenderers exceeded the expected figure because even persons who were freed on non-GCTA related grounds turned themselves in to authorities.

As of earlier this week, the BuCor has released 87 surrenderers whom officials say did not need to. Justice Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto said Friday that the bureau has approved the release of another 34 surrenderers.

The bureau will have released a total of 158 surrenderers once the latest batch walks free, Bainto said. —LDF. GMA News