SC has final say on validity of GCTA’s implementing rules – Sec. Guevarra

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Tuesday, Dec. 21, said the Supreme Court (SC) will have the final say on the validity of the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law under Republic Act No. 10592.

This was pointed out by Guevarra after Muntinlupa City regional trial court (RTC) Judge Gener M. Gito, in a decision dated last Nov. 8, declared the 2019 revision in the IRR invalid.

Judge Gito granted the petition for a writ of habeas corpus as he ordered the release of Juanito T. Itaas, a New People’s Army (NPA) member who was convicted of murder in 1991 for the 1989 killing of United States Army Col. James Rowe.

He ruled in his decision that Section 2, Rule IV of the 2019 amended IRR as “invalid for being ultra vires” (beyond one’s authority) because it “goes beyond what the law provides” and “exceeds the law that it seeks to implement.”

The IRR cited that those who are not entitled to any GCTA are recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) convicted of heinous crimes.

However, Judge Gito pointed out that the provision of the IRR is based on Section 1 of RA 10592 which amended Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code that provides that credit for “preventive imprisonment will be deducted for the penalty of reclusion perpetua” but “recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage of this Act. “

“It is, however, the view of the Court that the phrase ‘provided, finally, that recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage of this Act,’ cannot be used as justification for the expansion of the exceptions from the benefits provided by R.A. 10592. This phrase properly pertains only to those accused covered by Article 29 of the RPC – those who are undergoing preventive imprisonment,” he explained.

With his ruling, the judge ordered the release of Itaas from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

“I have been informed that the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) has filed an MR (motion for reconsideration) in the trial court, arguing that petitioner is not due for release from prison yet,” Guevarra said.

“In any event, only the SC can determine with finality any issue of constitutionality,” he stressed.