Dela Rosa on early release of convicts: Why blame us?

MANILA, Philippines— “Why pin the blame on us?”

Former Bureau Corrections (BuCor ) chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa raised this question on Tuesday amid the controversy over the early release of heinous crime convicts.

“We’re just implementing the law. Hindi naman kami ang gumawa ng batas na yan. Yung IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations), hindi rin kami gumawa, nag iimpelementa lang kami dyan,” he added in an interview with ABS-CBN.

The law he was referring to was Republic Act No. 10952 on good conduct time allowance (GCTA), which reduces inmates’ jail term because of good conduct.

Dela Rosa admitted  signing the release of 120 heinous crime convicts during his stint at the BuCor.

But he argued that they only freed the convicts based on  the law’s IRR.

“And the  IRR is very silent dun sa exclusion issue ng heinous  crime convicts. Very clear yan. Kahit saan tayo magdebate dito, kahit hindi ako abogado, makipag debate ako dyan…” the senator pointed out.

“The law nga mismo, hindi clear e. Inaamin ng mga mababatas ne there’s ambiguity in this law dahi hindi nagha-harmonize ang Section 1 at Section 3.”

Section 1 of the law explicitly excludes recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes from the coverage of the GCTA.

But Dela Rosa said Section 3 of the law indicates that all convicts are covered by the GCTA.

He surmised that the IRR was also crafted based on the law.

“Kami naman nag implementa, binabasehan lang namin yung IRR so bakit dito sa amin ngayon lahat  ng sisi?” Dela Rosa added.  /muf