2 more released Chiong case convicts to surrender — DOJ spox

Two more convicts in the Chiong sisters rape-slay case who were released from prison on shortened sentences due to good conduct credits will also surrender to authorities, the Department of Justice said Monday.

Josman Aznar, one of three convicts earlier reported to have been released, and James Anthony Uy, who it turns out was also freed, will turn themselves in, Justice Undersecretary and department spokesman Markk Perete said.

It was earlier reported that Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño have returned to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered heinous crime convicts released based on good conduct time allowances to surrender within 15 days or be labeled as fugitives.

Caño, Balansag, Aznar, Uy, Rowen Adlawan, Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga, and James Andrew Uy for the 1997 abduction, rape and killing of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in Cebu. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua in 1999.

The Supreme Court raised the penalty to death by lethal injection in 2004, except for brothers James Andrew and James Anthony, whose penalties were reclusion perpetua for one case and 12 to 17 years for the other.

The death penalty, however, was abolished in 2006.

Larrañaga is currently serving his sentence in Spain because of his dual citizenship. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said Larrañaga is still subject to Philippine penal laws even while imprisoned abroad. — RSJ, GMA News