Angara bats for tight GCTA net that won't let 'bad eggs slip out'
By AJ Siytangco
Published Sep 5, 2019 04:10 pm
By Noreen Jazul
Senator Sonny Angara on Thursday said he wants to "tighten" the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law to ensure that "bad eggs don't slip through the net."
Sen. Sonny Angara
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) Angara, in an interview with ANC, said he wanted to strike a balance in filing Senate Bill No. 995 which seeks to amend Articles 29, 97, 99, 171 and 174, and create a new Article 99-A under Act. No. 3815, the Revised Penal Code. "You want to give that, that restorative type of justice approach hindi lang tayo old testament na talagang, people cannot be rehabilitated because that is the belief of all modern justices which is that you can reform individuals. On the other hand, kapag repeat offender na at talagang it's someone trying to gain the system and knows all the rules, that's what this bill is meant to address," Angara said. The senator said his bill would be a "step up" from the current law, specifically because under SB No. 995, victims of the prisoners who are candidates for release under the GTCA law will be notified. "I think it serves a number of purposes. They can object to it and I suppose there's a procedure within the department for that, and secondly it puts them on guard also because baka balikan sila, because I assume they are the ones who also prosecuted, at least on the private side of the civil liability, sila din yung nag prosecute dun sa akusado, so they should at least know that he's walking the streets already," Angara said. "In a way, yes, it's an FYI (for your information), but that already is a step up from the current law. Under the current procedure, there's no notice at all. If the public feels the victims are entitled to more, then we could put more into the law," he added. Angara said the provisions of his bill would also address the problems attendant to the questionable grant of good conduct time credits. "In the case of Sanchez, if there was publication, then the media and the public could've pointed out, 'aba hindi naman clean ang record niyan,' you have these violations, therefore your computation of good conduct allowances is wrong, that's what would have happened if we had these provisions in place," he said. Angara said he hopes his measure, which also seeks to increase the penalty for the issuance of false certificates of good conduct, will serve as a deterrent to prison officials. Angara said he favors death penalty only for "very heinous crimes." (With a report from Hannah Torregoza)
Sen. Sonny Angara(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) Angara, in an interview with ANC, said he wanted to strike a balance in filing Senate Bill No. 995 which seeks to amend Articles 29, 97, 99, 171 and 174, and create a new Article 99-A under Act. No. 3815, the Revised Penal Code. "You want to give that, that restorative type of justice approach hindi lang tayo old testament na talagang, people cannot be rehabilitated because that is the belief of all modern justices which is that you can reform individuals. On the other hand, kapag repeat offender na at talagang it's someone trying to gain the system and knows all the rules, that's what this bill is meant to address," Angara said. The senator said his bill would be a "step up" from the current law, specifically because under SB No. 995, victims of the prisoners who are candidates for release under the GTCA law will be notified. "I think it serves a number of purposes. They can object to it and I suppose there's a procedure within the department for that, and secondly it puts them on guard also because baka balikan sila, because I assume they are the ones who also prosecuted, at least on the private side of the civil liability, sila din yung nag prosecute dun sa akusado, so they should at least know that he's walking the streets already," Angara said. "In a way, yes, it's an FYI (for your information), but that already is a step up from the current law. Under the current procedure, there's no notice at all. If the public feels the victims are entitled to more, then we could put more into the law," he added. Angara said the provisions of his bill would also address the problems attendant to the questionable grant of good conduct time credits. "In the case of Sanchez, if there was publication, then the media and the public could've pointed out, 'aba hindi naman clean ang record niyan,' you have these violations, therefore your computation of good conduct allowances is wrong, that's what would have happened if we had these provisions in place," he said. Angara said he hopes his measure, which also seeks to increase the penalty for the issuance of false certificates of good conduct, will serve as a deterrent to prison officials. Angara said he favors death penalty only for "very heinous crimes." (With a report from Hannah Torregoza)