37 more convicts who surrendered to be released

Thirty-seven more persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who have been freed but heeded the order of President Duterte to surrender have been approved for re-release by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“The Oversight Committee has approved the release of 27 PDL-surrenderers and 10 more or a total of 37, per recommendation by the Joint Task Force,” said DOJ spokesman and Undersecretary Markk Perete.

“This fourth batch of 37 individuals, once released by BuCor (Bureau of Corrections), should bring the total released PDL-surrenderers to 124,” he noted.

A total of 2,221 freed convicts heeded President Duterte’s order for all inmates who were released because of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) to surrender.

This already exceeded the list of the BuCor which contained the names of 1,914 PDLs who were released because of GCTA.

Duterte made the move to address fears that there are unqualified PDLs, including those convicted of heinous crimes, who may have benefited from Republic Act 10592.

RA 10592, which was passed in 2013, amended provisions of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and granted more GCTAs to inmates to allow for their much earlier release.

A joint task force of the DOJ and BuCor is currently sifting through the records of the 2,221 surrenderers to find out who among them should be freed.

The DOJ Oversight Committee which was created by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has supervision over the BuCor and approves those who were recommended for release.

The Oversight Committee is headed by DOJ Undersecretary Deo Marco and is also composed of Assistant Secretaries Neal Vincent Bainto and George Ortha II.