Jalosjos release not due until July '09 - DOJ chief

Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez on Tuesday said the government is ready to face former Rep. Romeo Jalosjos' threat to sue over his prolonged stay at the national penitentiary even with a supposed release order effective Sunday. In a radio interview, Gonzalez said that if Jalosjos pushes through with his plan to sue, it will boil down to the sentence computation of Gonzalez against that of former prisons chief Vicente Vinarao. "Kung demanda sa computation palagay ko mahirapan siya diyan. It will be the computation of Vinarao against my computation (If he sues us over the computation, he'll have a hard time. It will be the computation of Vinarao against my computation)," Gonzalez said on dzEC radio. He said that while Vinarao's computation allowed Jalosjos to be released last December 16, his own computation based on the Revised Penal Code will allow Jalosjos' release in July 2009. Gonzalez said an initial review of the computation by Vinarao showed there was too much leeway favoring Jalosjos. He said Vinarao gave Jalosjos too many credits that allowed his early release, saying he used "internal rules" that allowed extra credits not authorized by the Revised Penal Code. Under the Revised Penal Code, he said good behavior in the first two years of sentence, will entitle a convict to five days' reduction for every month. Good behavior from the third to fifth year entitles one to reduction of eight days for every month. Good behavior from the sixth to 10th year earns a 10-day reduction for every month. Above that, the reduction is 15 days for every month, he said. Gonzalez maintained that if the Revised Penal Code is to be followed, Jalosjos still cannot leave jail until after two years. "Based on our own computation on all applicable laws he cannot be released until July 2009," Gonzalez said. - GMANews.TV