The minority bloc of the House of Representatives is calling for a thorough review of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Act law following the congressional hearings on the contentious law conducted in both chambers of Congress.
In a press conference, House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. stressed the need for a review of the law following its conflicting interpretations and questionable implementation, which resulted in the early release of heinous crime convicts.
“Amendments to the GCTA law are needed due to the confusion surrounding its provisions.”
“It is clear that after hearings conducted by both houses of Congress that amendments to the GCTA law are needed due to the confusion surrounding its provisions, particularly on the issue pertaining to those convicted of heinous crimes,” Abante said.
The minority leader proposed to introduce an amendment to explicitly bar those convicted of heinous crimes from benefiting from the GCTA.
The veteran legislator also noted that reducing the amount of discretion that can be exercised by the implementers of the law could help in its proper application.
“I also believe that we need to focus on making amendments that will eliminate or minimize discretion on the part of the officials involved in the application of the law, as the more discretion is involved, the more likely it will be vulnerable to corruption,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
According to data from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), a total of 1,914 inmates convicted of heinous crimes have been granted early release since 2014 because of the GCTA law.
Abante noted that almost half of the inmates released, or 816 convicts, were released during the tenure of BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon, who was appointed in October 2018.
“After laws are enacted, we need to constantly scrutinize the product of our labors.”
“Unlike the Ten Commandments… the laws passed by the House are not written in stone; we recognize that after laws are enacted, we need to constantly scrutinize the product of our labors to determine if they are able to achieve their intended objectives,” he said.
“When they do not, it is incumbent upon us to find out why, and, if necessary, to make amendments to improve these laws so that they can benefit–and not harm–our constituents,” Abante added.