More than 400 GCTA-freed convicts back in gov't custody —PNP

With only a few days left before the deadline, the number of freed convicts due to the good conduct time allowance who turned themselves in to the police has already reached 435.

Data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday showed that of that number, 253 turned themselves over to the Bureau of Corrections as of 6 a.m.

The PNP said of the total number, 140 were murder convicts while 130 were convicted rapists.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), however, has a nigher number — over 500 as of Sunday, according to Undersecretary Markk Perete.

President Rodrigo Duterte has given the freed convicts until September 19 to "surrender" to authorities or they will be treated as “fugitives from justice.”

Police said it will be forced to deploy tracker teams to go after released convicts who will not turn themselves in.

Duterte has also ordered the recomputation of the GCTA credits given to the thousands of inmates.

The GCTA law, which was passed during the Aquino administration, became controversial after it was reported that among its beneficiaries would be convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez.

The furor over Sanchez's possible early release prompted the government to suspend the implementation of the law pending review. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News