Solon to BuCor: Give names of heinous crime convicts mistakenly freed

PBA Rep. Jericho Rosales. (Photo from his Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) should publish the names of heinous crime convicts who were “erroneously” freed under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, a lawmaker urged Thursday.

This comes on the heels of President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to heinous crime convicts, including the convicted killers and rapists of the Chiong sisters, to surrender within 15 days or else be considered “fugitives.”

READ: Duterte to freed heinous crime convicts: Surrender now

Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles said those who will not surrender could be liable for another crime–evasion of service of sentence–as provided under Article 157 of the Revised Penal Code.

Convicts who evaded the service of his sentence could also be subject warrantless arrests, as stated under Rule 113 Section 5 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.

“Now, more than ever, the Bureau of Corrections must publish the names of the erroneously released convicts,” Nograles said in a statement.

Moreover, Nograles also asked the BuCor to provide the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) copies of the lis so that local government units “are aware who may be subject to warrantless arrests.”

These convicts, Nograles said, will “likely” be considered “erroneously released” since their release were not in accordance with the RA 10592 and the DOJ Department Order No. 953.

Under Section 1 of the GCTA law or the Republic Act No. 10592, it was stated that “persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage” of the law.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said Duterte used two cases as legal basis in ordering the arrest of freed heinous crime convicts. /jpv

READ: ‘Duterte order to rearrest heinous crime convicts anchored on 2 SC rulings’