Rody’s rearrest order stands, says DoJ
It is only the Office of the President, which can put on hold officially the rearrest because the original order came from the President himself
The Department of Justice (DoJ) reiterated that only the Office of the President can put on hold the rearrest of convicts that were “prematurely released” on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA).
In a statement, DoJ Undersecretary and spokesman Markk Perete explained that while recommending a temporary halt to the manhunt of convicts, they conceded President Rodrigo Duterte’s verbal order to rearrest them still stands.
“It is only the Office of the President, which can put on hold officially the rearrest because the original order came from the President himself,” Perete said. Malacañang maintained that the warrantless arrest on heinous crime convicts granted early release under the GCTA law will push through if they still refuse to voluntarily turn themselves in to authorities.
The deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte for the surrender of the around 2,000 freed on “good conduct” already lapsed last 19 September.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), in coordination with the DoJ and Bureau of Corrections, is now double checking the list of those “disqualified” from benefiting from the GCTA before it will deploy tracker teams and go after the those still at large.
In a previous television interview, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the DoJ has requested the Department of the Interior and Local Government to suspend the rearrests pending the DoJ’s completion of its cleaned-up list of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) convicted of heinous crimes who were “prematurely released” on GCTA credits. He explained that under the DoJ’s new interpretation of Republic Act (RA) 10592, the law which expanded the grant of GCTA credits, those charged or convicted of heinous crimes are excluded from benefiting from the GCTA. Guevarra said they wanted to avoid unnecessary danger to the lives of the PDL and law enforcers.
To recall, President Duterte ordered the PNP to rearrest all PDL who will not surrender within 15 days, dead or alive and also promised a bounty of P1 million for each PDL still at large. The deadline lapsed 11:59 p.m. on Thursday night. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, on the other hand, noted that the warrantless arrests can still be done following the order of the president.
“In effect, you can already do the warrantless arrest right now but the PNP just have to be very sure who will be arrested. So it’s just a matter of coordinating with the DoJ, finalizing the list but as far as I am concerned, warrantless arrests can be affected right now,” said Nograles.