DOJ suspends good conduct processing for inmates

The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier announced it will review the contentious implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592, which provides for the grant of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to prisoners. (File Photo By Ramon FVelasquez – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday said he has ordered officials of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) to suspend the processing of Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) for inmates.

“I have given verbal orders to the Bucor (Bureau of Corrections) to temporarily suspend the processing of GCTAs as a precautionary measure and in the interest of prudence,” Guevarra told newsmen.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier announced it will review the contentious implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592, which provides for the grant of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to prisoners.

Officials are eyeing to complete its review within a 10-day period.

The law provides guidelines on computing the GCTA of an inmate from his or her total sentence.

It covers both detention prisoners and those who are convicted.

Preventive imprisonment is managed in jails run by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which controls all city, district, and municipal jails nationwide. Convicts, on the other hand, are imprisoned in facilities run by the DOJ through the BuCor.

The impending review of the law’s IRR came in the wake of public uproar following earlier reports that convicted rapist and murderer, former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez is among those who will be entitled to an early release from prison due to a June 25 Supreme Court (SC) ruling.

The SC was quick to clarify that it did not order to release Sanchez and that it merely interpreted the law.

In an earlier statement, the DILG said it supports the DOJ’s position that the former Calauan mayor is ineligible to avail of GCTA because “he is categorically excluded to benefit under the law’s coverage” being convicted of a heinous crime.