Even prisoners convicted of heinous crimes are entitled to good conduct time allowance (GCTA), thereby allowing them to regain their freedom sooner, according to the Supreme Court (SC).
The ruling essentially granted the petitions filed by persons deprived of liberty (PDL), who assailed the implementing rules and regulations of (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 10592 or the new GCTA Law.
The law provides for the award of GCTA credits to PDLs, who transformed themselves and showed good behavior during their incarceration.
SC Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh wrote the en banc decision released on Wednesday, which reversed the promulgation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that excluded individuals convicted of heinous crimes from the benefits granted by RA 10592.
“The Court ruled that Article 97 of the RPC (Revised Penal Code), as amended by RA 10592, is clear that any convicted prisoner is entitled to GCTA as long as the prisoner is in any penal institution, rehabilitation or detention center, or any other local jail,” the high tribunal emphasized.
The implementation of RA 10592 became controversial in August 2019 due to assumptions that rape-slay convict Antonio Sanchez would take advantage of the law. Sanchez was the former mayor of Calauan, Laguna, who died in 2021.
In 2020, American soldier Scott Pemberton, who murdered Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude, also reportedly filed a motion for his early release through GCTA. He was eventually freed after then President Rodrigo Duterte granted him absolute pardon.
Inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City challenged the revised IRR of the GCTA law before the Supreme Court, arguing that the guidelines were issued by the government with grave abuse of discretion, amounting to lack or in excess of jurisdiction.