MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde on Thursday said they would not hesitate to obey President Rodrigo Duterte’s “shoot-to-kill” order against convicts – prematurely released under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) rule – who would resist being rearrested.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Albayald said: “Of course, ‘yung (regarding the) shoot-to-kill order naman, if they will resist arrest, kung talagang lalaban sila, wala tayong magagawa (if they will put up a fight, we cannot do anything but retaliate).”
Duterte earlier issued the shoot-to-kill directive against convicts “offering violent resistance” as he ordered them to surrender to authorities to surrender within 15 days or face arrest by authorities even without a warrant.
READ: Duterte to freed heinous crime convicts: Surrender now
“This is a normal police operation serving a warrant of arrest. Kasi kung ire-reverse ‘yung decision (If the decision will be reversed), of course after 15 days, they will already face arrest. Kung iyan ay lalaban ay wala tayong magagawa (We will not be able to do anything if they will put up a fight),” Albayalde noted.
Albayalde then said PNP will deploy tracker teams to be led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to locate these released criminals who would not turn themselves in after the 15-day grace period given them.
Just an emphasis
Asked if Duterte’s order is enough basis to re-arrest the convicts after the period, Albayalde explained that in the first place, those heinous crime convicts should not have been granted freedom through GCTA as mandated by Section 1 of the Republic Act 10592.
“First and foremost, ‘yung pagbigay sa kanila ng GCTA (including them in the GCTA) is already void ab initio (void from the beginning). Sa una pa lang, void na ito dahil hindi sila dapat mabigyan ng GCTA (Since the start, this is void because they should not have been given the GCTA),” the PNP chief said.
He also said he believes that the shoot-to-kill order and the P1-million bounty that Duterte offered for every heinous crime convict who will not surrender is just the President’s way to “emphasize” that they have to be arrested after 15 days.
According to the nation’s top cop, those convicted of rape or murder most likely have “violent” and “criminal” minds that it is not far-fetched that they might resist a re-arrest by authorities.
“Pero not necessarily na kapag nakita mo, even if hindi siya lumalaban ay papatayin mo ‘yung tao. Hindi naman ‘yun ang ibig sabihin ng ating Pangulo (But not necessarily that when you see one, even if he is not resisting, you will kill him. It’s not what the President meant),” Albayalde said, adding that convicts may challenge the legality of their re-arrest before the courts while they are in custody of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
For surrenderers, Albayalde said they would undergo the normal booking procedure if they choose to go to police stations.
Albayalde also said that he already directed Wednesday the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to secure from BuCor the list of convicts who were prematurely released from jail because of GCTA.
He also reiterated that a warrantless arrest is applicable to these convicts since they would be considered fugitives after the grace period. /kga