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fHE PHltrpFrNE STAR il

, I'IONDAY I SEPTEMBER g, EO19

BuCor beat
judiciary
on convicts
r lawmaker
By DELON PORCALLA
and PAOLO ROMERO

While the wheefs oI-fustice grind

exceedingly slow due to the judicia-
ry's careful nature, the country's state
penitentiaries have outdone the justice
system by releasing inmates by the hun;
dreds and thousands, lawmakers havd
observed.
"We have been very lenient in releas-
ing convicts. We have been very liberal.
I In fact, BuCor even beat (members of)
r the judiciary who have been very judi-
' cious in upholding their sentence. Our
laws have become too weak, especially
now that we no longe'Til""Jl;"iTll

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 come out and we'tl be able to
BUCOf FrsmPasrl oin down some People. We'te
thinkinc whethbr t-o inelude
tlTeir duties. the entTre countrY because
denaltv" tevte ReP, Vieente wc're ngw iust concentrated on
Veloso"lamefrted. Del Rosario's admiesion of
-
euilt, both administrativelY the NBP. We have to find out
Veloss, who heads the5om- mor€ in this inquiry," Gordon
mittee on iustice of the House Hnd driminallv ie anchored oit
the DeBartmiint Order former tsLd dzBB vesterday'
oi nepresbntatives, disclosed "l tldr& the ombudsman can
that lie is now in the Process iustice'secretarY and now SC
tustice Beniamin Caguioa is- stari its investigation now that
of crafting "amcndateirY le.g- there's informXtion, all under
islation" to the controverstal bued in Nsvember 2015, that
no life termer should b'e r-e- oath," he said.
expanded sood conduct tirne the panel started its investi-
allbwance Gcre) law, RePub- ieased without the DOJ chief's
"prior appfoval." sation fast month into BuCor's
lic Act 10592. ' For ChUu Rep. Eduardo fiow invalidated imPlementa-
The law, sisned bY former tion of GCTA,law where. some,
nresident Benimo Aquino III Gullag, the Senate and House
should consider Passing new 1,9L4'inmates convicted'of
in 201.3*,was crifted bY former kreinclus criwtes wel€'{r'eed
iustic€l6ecretary and now oP- lesislation that would give
tri-al courts leeway to mete out since 20L4, including several
bositi$n Sen. Leila de Lima Chinese druA traffickers, and
irnder whose t6rm in the De- "life sentences without Parole"
to ruthless criminals. convicts in ihe 1997 Chiong
oartment of Tustice the release sisters raDe-murder case.
5i convicts siarted a Year later, "The severe Punishment is
as eood as locking uP a convict Sacked BuCor chief Nicanor
increasins everv Year until it Faeldon earlier told sena'
reached almost 2,600 this Year. anH throurinq a#av the keY,"
Gullas said, flollowing rePoits tors that he and his Predeces-
Implemented retroacti velY, sors-including Seri. Ro-nald
the law allows the reduction that loopholes in the 2013 law
have allesedlv enabled cormPt dela Rosa-interPreted the
of sentences bY as much as law as covering thbse alreadY
19 vears based-on a formula orison officidls to "sell" allow-
'uncus to convicts. convicted for heinous crimes,
thai tallies a convict's "good esoeciallv that a separate law
behavior." A+- present, "reclusion per-
RA 10592 sPecificallY ex- netuat is the maximum Pen- afows tfre asencY io free in-
hltv specified in $he Se-vised mates based 5n good conduct.
cludes recidivists, habitual But when the controversY
delinquents, escaPees and Per- Peiral^Code. The Punishment
sons chareed of heinous crimes is eaual to 30 to 40 Years in over the aborted release of
from availing themselves of its oris6n. with the convict be- raoe and murder convict An-
benefits. lomine etiqible for Possible tohio Sanchez broke out, the
Veloso - a former iristice of conditi'onal"early rele?lse af ter Department of Justice ruled
that those convicted of heinous
the Court of APPeals - also 15 to 20 years.
crimes are also not suPPosed
declared he will be filing a bill Hearlng on 'llle$al' to avail themselves of GCTA,
that will amend the three-fold
rule where a convict does not rolea$o rssumos an interpretation uPheld bY
President Duterte last week in
have to serve full sentence but The Senate Blue Ribbon firine Faeldon.
only a portion of the 40-Year iommittee will continue "its Sinators also suspect that
malimum term, regardless orobe todav into what is now money may have i:hanged
if this involved multiPle life ileemed ad illeeal release of handsin the-case of Sanchez as
terms. convicts bv the EuCor even as
it has beedn to unearth details thev noted the convict's familY
Rep. Ruwel Peter Gonzaga an6eared to have been too de-
of Coinpostela ValleY exPosed of *t* affesed racket of Prison
officials, #ho demand r?roney itidt'taing to Faeldon in seeking
the puz-zlins troubles brought his releise under the GCTA.
abotrt by thE exPanded GCTA in exchange for an inmate's
freedom. As lawmakers continue to
law. mo'st especiallY because of search for evidence to show
its hiehlv qtiestioni'ble formula The committee, chaired
Faeldon may have received
wheie ihrirates are given too bv Sen. Richard Gordon,
is
eipected to hear testimonies something in exchange for
much credits. signing Sahchez's release Pa-
' "It was an exercise of gqod frrim new witnesses*inmates
pdrs, Slnate President Vicente
faith vour honor because that as well as prison officials-into Sotto III bared last week a
has been the regular Practice," what is cilled the
"GCTA for
racket at the New Bilibid racket where Prison officials
Capt. Eusebio del Rosario trom satre"
BriCor's public information Prison (NBP) and other Penal allegedly promise freeddm
office told Gonzaga, and even instifutions run bY BuCor. to iimaled in exchange for
admitted b$i--i, J'ren,!iss" in "I'm sure something will money.
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