PRISON RETURNEES WALK OUT OF IWAHIG AMID IMPATIENCE ON GCTA REVIEW
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—
Forty-si x pe ople, wh or eturned tot he Iwahi gp riso nan d Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan province after questions on t heg ood conduc tti me allowance (GCTA) for prisoner s we re raise dr ecently, walke do u to f the facility last week as prison officials sa idt he group had grown impatien to ver the pace of review of their cases.
In an interview o nm onday, Lev ie vangelista, Iwahig information officer , sa id nine who lef tt he facility’s holdi ng a rea on Friday ha dr eturned and were no wun de rt heir custody.
IPPF, also called a “p rison without walls,” is t he c ountry’s larges to pen priso nc overing 26,630 hectares in this Palawan capital where inmat es c ould work and ear n, m ostly i n fa rmi ng j obs.
The 46 wer eam ong those who yield ed to IPPF officials in September after President Duterte ordere dt hem to surrender f ort he mistaken application of the GCTA law (Republi cac t No. 10592).
The President’s call to surrender was addresse d to 1,914 heino usc ri mec onvicts released since 2014, base do n t he e rrorlad enl is to f the Bureau o fc orrections (Bucor ).H owever ,s ome 2,304 convict s ac ross t hec ountry turne dt hemselves in to authorities to bea tt he Sept .19 deadline given by Mr .Du terte.
The IPPF received 185 GCTA returnees but none had been released as o fn ov. 11, the Bucor said .Bu tit srecord ssh owe dt hat 604 GCTA returnees had been released fro ms ix other facilities under Bucor.
No one to blame
Evangelista assure dt hat prison officials wer ea ttending tot he returnees’ need sbu tt he decision on their “official release” was ou to f their hands.
The Departmen to f Justice (DOJ) oversight committee, which evaluates the records of GCTA returnees, has ye ttoi ssue an orde ro n the cases of these former prisoners, he said.
“We do not have an idea yet on what will be the effec to f their escape ... o n[ the] final [decision on their] release,” he added.
Bu te vangelist a sa idt here was n oo ne to blame f ort he walkout.
“Those who left could have gotten tire do fwa iting and became impatient, especially that they wante d tobe w ith their families. We ar es till waiti ngf or an order [on their cases],” Evangelist asa id ,n oting that prison officers trie dto pacify and stop the returnees from leaving.
He sa idt hey were aware of the tensio na tt heh oldi nga rea but corrections officer sc ould not do anything abou tt hes ituation because the returnees were technically “free men.”
Evangelist a sa id IPPF officials ordere dt he transfe ro f33 returnees lef ti n t heh oldi nga rea to t he Inawagan subcolo ny so they could be nea rt heir families.
“We immediately granted the irr eques tto be transferred to Inagawan. They sa idt hey still want ed to be f reed without hitches an dt heir names cleared,” he said.
Evangelista appeale d to those who walke do u to f the IPPF to r eturn tot he facilit y an d await the results of the GCTA review.
“We call on them tor etur nso the outco mew ould not become worse. They should jus tr eturn and wait f or t he ir r elease s o it wouldn’t affect [their situation]. They should hee do ur call to avoid bei ng a rrested again,” he said.
In Manila, Maj. Albert Tapiru, spokesperso nf ort he Bucor , sa id the 46 should not be tagged as “escapees,” since they wer en ot convicts anymore.
“But personnel from Bucor an dt he p oli ce a r e cu rrently searchi ngf ort hem, where they would be b rought back to t he holdi nga rea,” he added.
Safety
But Tapiru aske dt hem tor eturn tot he IPPF, assuring them tha tt hey would be safe inside t hep riso nc omplex.
“Ih ope they come back here and just be patient f ort hep rocessing of the DOJ to bef inished so the irr elease will be legal,” he said.
The GCTA law came under scrutiny after news broke that Antonio Sanchez, former mayor of Calauan, Laguna province, would be walki ngf ree in August after he reported ly c ompleted his 40-year prison ter mf orr ape and murde rt hrough the application of GCTA credits.
The revelatio np rompte dt he Senate toi nvestigate, leading to the resignation o ff ormer Bucor chief, Nicanor Faeldon.
Aj oint committee of the DOJ an dt he Departmen to f the Interior and Local Government also revise dt he implementing rules an dr egulations (IRR) of RA 10592, which categorically excluded heino us c rimes convict sf rom benefitti ngf rom the law.
Ag roup of inmates aske dt he Supreme Court to strike down as unconstitutional provisions of the new IRR which exclude recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees an dt hose charged with heino usc rimes from benefiting from the expanded GCTA, time allowance for studying, teaching and mentoring and special time allowance for loyalty.