DILG to ask DOJ to place freed heinous crime convicts on BI watchlist

DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya. (Photo from his FB account)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Thursday it will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to include in the watchlist of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) the more than 1,700 heinous crime convicts released due to good conduct to prevent them from leaving the country.

“The DILG will also request the Department of Justice to immediately place on the Immigration watchlist the said individuals to prevent them from leaving the country at this time,” DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement Thursday.

Malaya added that the Philippine National Police, an agency under the jurisdiction of the DILG, is also now coordinating with the Bureau of Corrections for the list of heinous crime convicts released due to the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.

According to Malaya, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also urges these convicts, who were released from jail since the Republic Act 10592 enforcing the GCTA was signed into law in 2013, to surrender themselves immediately to the nearest police station. RA 10592 shortens the prison sentence of convicts as a reward for showing good conduct while serving jail time.

This after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered on Wednesday these convicts to surrender to the nearest police station or military camp in 15 days.

READ: Duterte to freed heinous crime convicts: Surrender now

If the convicts refuse to surrender within this period, he said the government would treat them as fugitives.

READ: PNP: Convicts freed under GCTA can be arrested without warrant

“The order to re-arrest is consistent with prevailing jurisprudence, particularly the decision of the Supreme Court in People v[ersus] Tan where it was held that the ‘prisoner’s re-arrest would not place him twice in jeopardy because his re-incarceration is merely a continuation of the penalty that he had not completely served due to the erroneous act of the warden; it is not a new or subsequent conviction. Neither would his re-arrest deprive him of liberty without due process of law, because he was not yet entitled to liberty at the time he was released,’” Malaya said.

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

An Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) or a watchlist only directs the BI to be on the lookout for persons included in the list and to verify the status of a case against the subject person and not to restrict an individual from leaving the country.

But a person subject to the ILBO must first seek an Allow Departure Order (ADO) from the DOJ chief for him to be allowed to leave the country. /jpv