4 Chinese drug lords out of Bilibid, now with Immigration

The four Chinese nationals whom Senator Panfilo Lacson claimed were convicted drug lords released from prison are now under custody of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as they await deportation, the bureau said Thursday.

Chan Chit Yue, Kin San Ho, Ching Che and Wu Hing Sum are detained at the BI Warden Facility, BI deputy spokesman Melvin Mabulac said, adding that the deportation order was signed by the Board of Commissioners last Aug. 23 and will be implemented when relevant documents are complied with.

"BI exercises its ministerial function to deport foreign nationals who completed the service of sentence in Philippine prison," a statement from Mabulac said.

Lacson earlier claimed that the four Chinese nationals were convicted drug lords who had been released from the New Bilibid Prison on the basis of good conduct time allowances (GCTA), or time deducted from the prison terms of qualified inmates who show good behavior.

These four convicts may be the first reported names of inmates who were released by the Bureau of Corrections due to prison terms shortened by GCTAs.

The BuCor said it has released more than 22,000 inmates, almost 2,000 of whom were convicted of heinous crimes like drug-related offenses, since 2014, but it did not divulge names.

Convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez, the man whose possibility of early release triggered public outcry and discussions on the meaning of the law providing for GCTAs, reportedly remains in the Bilibid's maximum security compound. —NB, GMA News