Police mobilize tracker teams to go after 19 GCTA-freed convicts who failed to surrender

Tracker teams from the Philippine National Police (PNP) were mobilized Friday to rearrest 19 inmates who were released due to the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

This came following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to go after these freed convicts who had failed to surrender during the 15-day period given by the Chief Executive.

On October 1, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he had forwarded the “initial list of 19” to the Department of the Interior and Local Government, but he added that more names will follow.

The guidelines, set by the Department of Justice, stated that the manhunt operations against these convicts would be limited to search and arrest only.

Duterte had said he wants a recomputation of the GCTA credits given to more than a thousand convicts.

A revised implementing rules and regulations of the GCTA law was released by the government last month.

Guevarra said the new IRR will exclude those who were convicted of heinous crimes, including murder and rape, from being eligible for GCTA benefits. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News