DILG eyes tracker teams for possible rearrest of ‘good conduct’ heinous crimes convicts

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday that tracker teams will be deployed to hunt down and rearrest inmates convicted of heinous crimes who were given early release because of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, should their release orders be revoked.

“Magkakaroon naman ng tracker teams ‘yan. Ang paghahanap sa mga ito ay hindi katulad ng paghahanap sa (There will be tracker teams. Locating these people will not be the same when locating) underground personalities. Most of these people are probably back on their homes now,” he said in a chance interview.

According to Año, a warrantless arrest for these released inmates is possible should their release orders be revoked, since they would already be considered fugitives.

“Kapag ganyan, hindi na kailangan ng warrant ‘yan, kasi kapag ki-nancel mo ‘yan they become fugitives, and fugitives are actually wanted people and ‘yung standing warrant niyan ay tuloy-tuloy,” said Año

(If that is the case, there is no need for a warrant, because if their release order is canceled, they become fugitives, and fugitives are actually wanted people and their standing warrant will be in effect.)

Año said he is optimistic that authorities will be able to rearrest these inmates if their release orders will be recalled. However, he admits that some may attempt to avoid arrest.

For Año, it is better for inmates convicted of heinous crimes who have been given early release because of the GCTA law to be sent back to prison.

“Para sa akin, ‘yung mga nakagawa ng heinous crime at mga drug lords, head ng drug syndicates, ‘yung mga Chinese [drug lords], dapat ibalik natin ‘yan. Nakikita natin na hindi maayos ‘yung pagka-compute [of GCTA credits]. Kung nagkamali tayo, dapat icorrect natin ‘yung mali,” he said.

(For me, those who were guilty of heinous crime, those who are heads of drug syndicates, and Chinese drug lords should be returned to jail. We see that the recomputation [of GCTA credits] was not done well. If we were wrong, then we should correct it.)

“We have to check kung sino itong mga [convicts of] heinous crimes na ito. Kung ito ay serious killer ay talagang delikado tayo diyan (who these convicts of heinous crimes are. If they are serial killers, they are really dangerous),” he said.

A total of 1,914 inmates convicted of heinous crimes were among the 22,049 inmates who were given early release after Republic Act 10592 which mandates the GCTA was passed in 2013, according to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).  /muf

READ: 1,914 heinous crime convicts freed under good conduct law