With revised rules for GCTA, law enforcers now can never go wrong – Palace

The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines — The revision of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592 or the Good Conduct Time Allowance would give law enforcers with “no room for confusion,” Malacañang said Tuesday.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo hailed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año “for promptly completing” the revised IRR.

READ: DOJ, DILG complete, sign revised IRR of GCTA law 

“We hope that the revisions and corrections made in the instrument would address the inaccuracies, as well as the loopholes of its earlier version which generated confusion among the officials in implementing the law, and the corresponding backlash of the public against them,” Panelo said in a statement.

He cited that under the IRR issued by then justice secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima and former interior Secretary Mar Roxas II in 2014, “persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who were charged of or convicted with heinous crimes are not excluded to avail of sentence deductions for good conduct under Republic Act No. 10592.”

Under the revised IRR, Panelo said “Rule IV, Sections 1 and 2 of the revised IRR made it very clear and categorical that those PDLs convicted of or charged with heinous crimes shall not be entitled to any sentence deduction based on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) under Republic Act No. 10592.’

“The revised IRR likewise adopted the definition of heinous crimes under the provisions of Republic Act No. 7659, as amended, otherwise known as the Death Penalty Law, and those crimes specifically declared as such by the Supreme Court. This leaves the enforcers of the law with no room for confusion,” he said.

He also said that “pursuant to this administration’s commitment for transparency, Management Screening and Evaluation Committees, which are tasked to assess, evaluate, and recommend to the Director General of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) the grant of GCTA benefits to qualified PDLs, are now mandated to invite representatives from the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) and the National Prosecution Service (NPS) of the Department of Justice, and even from accredited civil society organizations, to appear as observers during their deliberations.”

“We exhort the officials of the BUCOR to study the new IRR and transmit the correct and up-to-date information to their staff for their proper guidance,” he added./ac