MANILA, Philippines — Two men convicted for the 1997 rape and murder of the Chiong sisters surrendered to Bureau of Corrections officials with only a day left before the 15-day ultimatum set by President Rodrigo Duterte lapses.
Department of Justice spokesperson Markk Perete told reporters that convicts Josman Aznar and Anthony Uy showed up at Gate 1 of the New Bilibid Prison at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Perete added that the raw information on the surrender relayed to the DOJ is still being verified.
The two were among the four convicts in the Chiong rape-slay who were granted early release under the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance despite committing a heinous crime.
READ: DOJ: Two freed convicts in Chiong sisters rape-slay yet to surrender
The two other convicts in the case, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño, turned themselves in last September 6, a couple of days after Duterte ordered the 1,914 freed heinous crime convicts to turn themselves in otherwise they would be treated as fugitives.
On Tuesday, Duterte said he would offer P1 million to anyone who would capture the freed heinous crime convicts under the GCTA dead or alive.
The DOJ has taken the position that prisoners convicted for heinous crimes are ineligible to receive GCTA grants.
A September 6 report of SunStar quoted Edgar Gica, Aznar's lawyer, as saying that Duterte’s re-arrest order is unconstitutional.
"This young man should now be allowed to rebuild his life... Hunting for him is like accusing him of the same crime again," he added.
"They have served their sentence. They have gone home and have a right to be left alone," Gica also said.
READ: Duterte offers P1M bounty for capture of freed heinous crime convicts
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, however, argued that the president's order is anchored on two Supreme Court rulings.
Guevarra cited the 1967 ruling of People v Fidel Tan and the 2001 decision on City Warden of the Manila City Jail v Estrella et al.
In the Tan ruling, the inmate's GCTA was granted by the provincial warden of Samar. The SC held that the warden usurped the authority of the Director of Prisons in crediting Tan with GCTA.
It held: "The prisoner's re-arrests would not place him twice in double jeopardy because his re-incarceration is merely a continuation of the penalty he had not completely served due to the erroneous act of the warden, it is not a new or subsequent conviction." — with Kristine Joy Patag