With the number of surrenderers exceeding the 1,914 heinous crime convicts that were freed due to the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, Senator Dick Gordon stressed the need for better records keeping at the national penitentiaries.
Gordon, chairman of the Committees on Justice and Human Rights and the Accountability of Public Officers & Investigations (Blue Ribbon) that are conducting a joint hearing, said the excessive number of surrenderers proves that even the Department of Justice (DOJ) has no accurate records of inmates in the country.
“It is clear that they do not have one.”
“The DOJ, as the agency in-charge of our prisons, should have accurate records of the inmates inside but it is clear that they do not have one,” the veteran legislator said.
“The list included wrong entries of crimes for convicts, double entries and even prisoners on parole.”
“It was near the 12 midnight deadline set by President (Rodrigo) Duterte for the released prisoners to surrender but the DOJ had yet to clean up the previously released BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) list, which included wrong entries of crimes for convicts, double entries and even prisoners on parole, which should have guided law enforcement agencies in conducting the re-arrest,” the seasoned lawmaker noted.
The senator slammed the sloppy records keeping at the BuCor which was made clear when it couldn’t be determined whether some inmates who turned themselves in were convicted of heinous crimes.
A television channel has reported that there were so many surrendering ex-convicts that the social hall of the New Bilibid Prison now resembled a city jail. The congestion had gotten so bad that several surenderers had to be moved to the BuCoR training hall. Before the deadline, the total number of surrenderers had reached 2,009, with 1,773 of them in custody of the BuCor and the 236 with the Philippine National Police.
Duterte ordered that all heinous crime convicts mistakenly released under the GCTA law surrender to authorities before September 19. The President said those who will fail to surrender will be treated as fugitives and will be hunted down by police.