By Jeffrey Damicog
Law enforcement authorities continue to hunt down 19 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who were not supposed to be freed early due to good conduct and time allowance (GCTA).
Department of Justice (MANILA BULLETIN)
Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto noted that the 19 were also among the Bureau of Correction’s (BuCor) list of 1,914 freed PDLs due to GCTA who were ordered by President Duterte to surrender by September 19.
However, the 19 in the list did not heed the call of Duterte to surrender.
Bainto said the names of the 19 released PDLs were already given to the Philippine National Police (PNP) which is currently hunting them down.
“We have not received any feedback from the PNP or DILG,” Bainto said when asked if any of the 19 have been arrested.
“We'll call them up and see if they have arrested any from that list of 19 names that we sent to them,” he assured.
Previously, Duterte ordered all those in the BuCor’s list to surrender to address concerns that prisoners who were unqualified to benefit from Republic Act 10592 including those convicted of heinous crimes might have been freed.
RA 10592 which was passed in 2013 amended provisions of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and granted more GCTAs to inmates to allow for their early release.
The issue was initially uncovered when rape-slay convict former Calauan Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez was scheduled to be freed this year due to his GCTA.