Photo shows (middle) ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Erwin Tulfo in a posterity shot after attending the MACHRA Balitaan along with his chief of staff (left) Jerico Javier. At Tulfo's right and left are MACHRA President Itchie Cabayan and Vice President Andi Garcia.
Prisoners who were convicted of heinous crimes must only be able to get out of jail in caskets, Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Partylist Representative Erwin Tulfo said.
During the "MACHRA Balitaan" of the Manila City Hall Reporters' Association
(MACHRA) held last June 18 at Century Seafood Restaurant in San Juan, Rep. Tulfo stressed that a life sentence is useless because of good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
GCTA is a sentence reduction provision for prisoners who show good behavior while inside a correctional facility.
It has been enacted into law in 1906 as the Republic Act 1533 provided for the “diminution of sentences imposed upon prisoners” in consideration of good conduct and diligence.
Rep. Tulfo mentioned that he has already instructed his legal team to review the aforementioned law and that he will push for its repeal for cases involving heinous crimes if the death penalty is not reinstated.
He lamented that the GCTA allows criminals to go free after only a decade or more, which is an injustice to the families of their victims.
"Sa US, pag sinabing life sentence, lalabas ka sa kulungan nasa ataul ka na. Dapat i-adopt na pag heinous crimes gaya ng massacre, isulong na lang natin na 'life sentence talaga (In the US, if you are given a life sentence, you will be released from prison in a coffin. It should be adopted for criminals convicted of heinous crimes such as massacre, let's just promote that it's really a life sentence)," he said.
Tulfo stressed that through GCTA, the 40-year life sentence is reduced to 20 years so that a young convict can get out of prison at the age of 50 or 60.
"After 20 years tatawanan ka pa, neknek mo, nakalabas na ko. Pano ka ngayon patay na mister mo, anak mo? Sabi rehab daw. Paano mo irerehab 'yung mga buwang, mga druglord na nakatikim na ng marangyang buhay, nang-rape ng anak niya tapos pinatay pa nya buong pamilya tapos makakalaya after 20 years (After 20 years, the perpetrator will still laugh at you and tease you because they are free. They will say, how are you now that your husband is dead, your son? How do you rehabilitate those drug lords who had luxurious lives, raped their children and then killed his whole family and then get free after 20 years)," Tulfo explained.
"Pag heinous crime like Maguindanao massacare, 'yung 40 years, sa 50 pinatay mo concurrent ang pag-serve ng 40 years. It's useless. Mabuti kung 10 pinatay mo bawat isa life sentence bale 400 years. Paano naman ang buhay nung mga pinatay? Dapat lalabas ka bilangguan nasa ataul na para naman 'yung mga nabiktima, maramdaman ang hustisya (When heinous crime like Maguindanao massacre, you killed 50 then that will cause you a 40-year sentence. It's useless. It's better if you killed 10, and 40-year sentence for each life equivalent to 400 years. What about the life of those who were killed? You should come out of prison in caskets so that the victims can truly feel the justice)," he added.
According to Tulfo, he may not be in favor of the firing squad but he will consider the humane method of the death penalty such as the use of lethal injection where a convicted criminal will be merely put to sleep.
"This is the more humane way, 'yung patulugin... mas makatao dahil may mga nagsasabi, wala tayong karapatan kunin ang buhay ng iba. Sa lethal injection, lalabas ka sa bilangguang nasa ataul na (This is the more humane way, because there are those people who say, we have no right to kill. With lethal injection, you'll get out of prison in caskets already)," he stated.