GCTA IRR revision not an admission of mistake in its initial version — Drilon

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon. (File photo by EDWIN BACASMAS / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday said the revision of the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the controversial good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law was not an admission that there was a mistake in the initial IRR of the law.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier finalized and signed the revised IRR of the Republic Act 10592 or the law that increases the time slashed from the prison term of convicts due to good behavior.

“No [it is not an admission of mistake]. It’s a question of interpretation, that’s how they interpreted it. And there was good faith in their interpretation of the law. That’s how they interpreted it,” Drilon said.

In a letter sent by the Office of the Ombudsman to former justice secretary Senator Leila De Lima and former interior secretary Mar Roxas II, who crafted the initial IRR, they were asked to explain and/or clarify why the IRR has removed heinous crime convicts from the list of inmates not qualified for the GCTA contrary to what R.A. 10592 — which amended Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code — stated.

Drilon is also on the negative side when it comes to amending the GCTA law even after its IRR have been revised.

“Sa akin hindi, I am not in favor of amending it because now it has been interpreted in a manner that we think is consistent with the original intent of the law,” Drilon told reporters at the Senate.

Under the revised IRR, “recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapists and those convicted of heinous crimes” are disqualified to benefit from the good conduct time allowance (GCTA).

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