MANILA, Philippines — Senate committees will hold a joint hearing into the controversial implementation of Good Conduct Time Allowance, a mechanism meant to reward prisoners for good behavior but that is under for over allegations of abuse.
Sen. Richard Gordon—chair of the blue ribbon committee as well as the committee on justice and human rights—will lead the joint hearing with the committees on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes; Public Order and Dangerous Drugs; and Finance chaired by Sens. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Sonny Angara, respectively.
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Senators are holding the hearing in response to widespread outrage over the potential release of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted for the rape and murder of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her boyfriend Allan Gomez in 1993.
Sanchez was sentenced to seven counts of reclusion perpetua or imprisonment of up to 40 years in 1995 but, according to reports in August, could walk free because of Republic Act 10592, which expanded the coverage of Good Conduct Time Allowance allowed under the Revised Penal Code.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the expanded coverage applies retroactively.
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According to Bureau of Corrections data, more than 1,900 convicts of heinous crimes have been released on GCTA since 2013, when the Revised Penal Code was amended to increase the number of days that a prisoner's sentence is reduced for every month of good behavior.
This, despite pronouncements from the Palace, the Department of Justice, and BuCor that convicts of heinous crimes are ineligible for GCTA.
Sen. Dela Rosa was head of the Bureau of Corrections before running for public office in the May elections.
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The hearings stem from resolutions calling for a probe into the conditions of Philippine jails and prisons, the implementation of the GCTA, and Sanchez's case.
Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon has been summoned to attend the hearing to tackle the issues hounding his agency.
Documents showing Faeldon signed Sanchez’s release order have surfaced but the BuCor chief has disavowed the papers.
The Sanchez family said the former mayor's release should have been on August 20.
Watch the hearing LIVE starting 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019: