BuCor chief orders study of GCTA implementation

BUREAU of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. has ordered the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to study the full implementation of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) after the Supreme Court ruled that all persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are entitled to receive this benefit, even those convicted of heinous crimes. Catapang said the TWG will draft the implementing rules and regulations and submit them to the Department of Justice for guidance. "We have to determine how to recompute the time allowance due the particular PDL whether the computation will be based on the date of their detention or based on the date they are transferred with BuCor," he said on Wednesday. Based on the Supreme Court ruling, the Department of Justice (DoJ) exceeded its power of subordinate legislation when it excluded persons convicted of heinous crimes from the benefits of Republic Act (RA) 10592, or the New GCTA law. In finding the assailed provisions of the 2019 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10592 invalid, the high court ruled that persons convicted of heinous crimes are still entitled to GCTA. The 2019 IRR defines GCTA as "a privilege granted to a prisoner, whether detained or convicted by final judgment, entitling him to a reduction of his jail or prison term for every month of actual detention or service of the sentence as a reward for good conduct and exemplary behavior."