The law that almost set free convicted rapist and murderer Antonio Sanchez for good behavior needs to be amended, Senator Richard Gordon said Monday, after a Senate hearing on the Good Conduct and Time Allowance program that has released almost 2,000 inmates convicted of heinous crimes.
Sanchez, who raped and murdered university co-ed Eileen Sarmenta and killed her friend Allan Gomez, could have walked free from his detention cell at the New Bilibid Prison were it not for the public outcry protesting the decision of the Bureau of Corrections.
Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, said ambiguous provisions of the law need to be clarified.
The ambiguity, he noted, gave rise to various interpretations of the law’s provisions.
Gordon said he shared the position of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra that inmates convicted of heinous crimes should not benefit from this law.
He and Guevarra also believe there should be transparency, such that the family of the victims of an inmate who is set for discharge from detention should be properly advised. “There should be a check and balance,” he said.
Senator Christopher Go said while the intention of the law—to encourage inmates to do good while serving their sentence—it must be applied only to those deserving of early release.
He also wanted amendments to the law to allow the recall of release orders for prisoners so that their cases could be reviewed.
Asked if President Rodrigo Duterte still had trust and confidence in BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon, Go, a close aide of the Chief Executive, said he could not speak for him on the matter.
But Go said the President would investigate possible corruption in the early release of inmates.
“Definitely, heads will roll,” he said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan also questioned Guevarra over the implementation of the GCTA after the Justice secretary revealed that he did not receive any request from BuCor regarding the release of Sanchez.
The senator said the interpretation and implementation of the law have become absurd, pointing out that an act of patently bad behavior, such as stabbing inside the prison is not considered when deciding on the prisoner’s release.
He said under the system, an inmate would lose good behavior points only for the month in which he committed a violation. After that, he could continue racking up good behavior points.
“I don’t think that was the intention of the law and the lawmakers,” Pangilinan said.
He also argued that Sanchez’s failure to pay damages as required by a Supreme Court ruling goes against the GCTA Law.
The Senate conducted a hearing Monday to discuss Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA Law, which made headlines after reports that Sanchez would be released early in accordance with its provisions.
Sanchez was sentenced to seven counts of life imprisonment for the rape-slay of UPLB student Eileen Sarmenta, and the murder of Allan Gomez in 1993.
In response to Pangilinan’s question, Guevarra said that compliance depends on the person’s ability to pay the civil liability.
Both Sarmenta and Gomez families confirmed that they have not been informed about the impending release of Sanchez, contrary to the provisions of the law, nor were they compensated for the crimes.
“Yes, it supposed to be affirmed by the Supreme Court that they are supposed to pay us but not even a single centavo or any emissary came to us for that matter,” said Eileen’s mother, Maria Clara Sarmenta.
“How can you forgive somebody who hasn’t even [said] sorry?” she said.
Also present in the hearing was Allan’s mother, Illuminda Gomez, who had to be taken to hospital when her blood pressure rose after giving her statement.
Guevarra said the public outcry over the possible release of Sanchez gave the government an opportunity to review the law.
“We at the Department of Justice reviewed the law even more carefully and tried to harmonize the various provisions that seemed to be not consistent with each other,” he also said.
He said Section 1 of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA Law pertains to the grant of time credit for preventive imprisonment.
He said convicts under preventive imprisonment are those who are detained while their charges are pending in court.
In that same provision on preventive imprisonment, he said there was a line inserted that says that habitual delinquents, escapees, recidivists and those charged with heinous crimes are not covered by the provisions of the act.
“So there is one sweeping statement found in a section that pertains solely to preventive imprisonment, had it been a sole provision by itself, one entire section stand alone that says habitual delinquents, recidivists, escapees and persons convicted of heinous crimes are not covered by the benefits of this act then probably there would be no confusion,” he said.
On the other hand, Guevarra said there is a possibility that the foreign drug lords freed under the GCTA but currently detained at the Bureau of Immigration awaiting deportation may be brought back to the national penitentiary.
“There’s a possibility. But I cannot make a very assured answer to that question because we are still reviewing the guidelines and implementing rules and regulations,” Guevarra said to a question posed by Senator Panfilo Lacson.
Republic Act No. 10592 or the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law was signed on May 29, 2013 by then President Benigno Aquino III. Then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and then Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II signed the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the GCTA Law. Franklin Bucayu, who was arrested in 2017 in connection with the drug case against De Lima, was then head of the Bureau of Corrections when the law was signed and the IRR was crafted.
Section 1 on preventive imprisonment provides that recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded.
But Section 3 on the computation of allowance for good conduct does not explicitly exclude any convict.
The IRR also does not exclude any convict regardless of gravity of the crime.
Guevarra urged Congress to amend the law to clearly exclude from its coverage those convicted of heinous crimes.
“I believe that much improvement can be done, but at the level of the Department of Justice, that will not be possible,” Guevarra told senators.
“My suggestion… is that certain amendments be made to the existing GCTA Law,” he said.
“We came to a conclusion that the intent of the law was to exclude those convicted of heinous crimes, as well as habitual delinquents, escapists, recidivists. But that came only after a tedious and laborious harmonization of the various provisions of this law,” he said.
The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, said it was ready to arrest without warrant 1,914 heinous crime convicts if the Justice department nullifies their early prison release.