BuCor: Up to 9K inmates to benefit from SC’s good conduct ruling

BETWEEN 5,000 and 9,000 inmates out of the 27,311 convicted of heinous crimes are expected to immediately benefit from a recent Supreme Court ruling, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said yesterday.

The ruling states that those convicted of heinous crimes can also avail themselves of provisions of Republic Act 10592 or the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA).

Catapang said the High Court has ruled with finality on the issue, although the tribunal has yet to issue a copy of the ruling as of press time.

Catapang said he has formed a technical working group to come up with new guidelines in computing credit but assured that inmates who are sickly, terminally ill and aged 70 years and above would be prioritized.

He said that 9,168 inmates convicted of heinous crimes will be eligible for release if the computation is based on date of detention or 5,039 if the computation is based on the dates they are received in BuCor prison facilities.

“It was already approved with finality and we are preparing for implementing rules and regulations to implement this,” he said.

To recall, the Court en banc issued a ruling in April that nullified the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) excluding persons convicted of heinous crimes from availing themselves of the benefits of the GCTA law.

The Court en banc held that when RA 10592 amended Article 97 of the Revised Penal Code, it used the connecting conjunction “or” to express that “any offender qualified for credit imprisonment pursuant to Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code,” and in the alternative “any convicted prisoner in any penal institution, rehabilitation, or detention center in any other local jail” may avail of the benefits granted by the GCTA law.

The SC ruling explained that the DOJ IRR expanded the scope of the law when it excludes inmates convicted of heinous crimes, recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees from earning GCTA credits.

Catapang said the SC upheld its ruling last August 20 after the magistrates denied the appeal of the DOJ for failing to raise new arguments that would warrant the reversal of the assailed ruling.

Catapang