Espinosa, Khristine Kendall M.

Criminal Law

1 JD – B

Good Conduct Time Allowance Law (GCTA Law)

On August 21, 2019, news of Former Mayor Antonio Sanchez’s near-

release sparked outrage on the National TV. The Department of Justice and

the Bureau of Corrections identified him as among the 11,000 inmates who

may walk free from prison in the next two monthsi. The revised

Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Good Conduct Time

Allowance Law (GCTA Law) made a public outcry over the near-release of

Sanchez who was accused and convicted for the heinous crime of rape and

murder. However, on June 25, 2019 the Supreme Court in their En Banc

session ruled that this law should be applied retroactively.

Good Conduct Time Allowance or GCTA is a sentence reduction

provision for prisoners who show good behavior while inside the prison. Act

1533 provided for the “diminution of sentences imposed upon prisoners” in

consideration of good conduct and diligence that exist since 1906. In 1908

decision of the Supreme Court, this was made for the encouragement of the

convicts to give an effort to reform and to aid disciplines. Many years later,

Republic Act 3815 or Revised Penal Code governing crimes and their

punishment was signed into law, incorporating good conduct time allowance

for any prisoner in any penal situation.

On May 2003, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III signed the

Republic Act 10592 amending the Articles 29, 94, 97, 98, and 99 of Republic

Act 3815 or the Revised Penal Code. In the New IRR of RA 10592 now
exclude the heinous crime convicts like Sanchez from the benefits of the

GCTA Law. This law sought to expand the application of the GCTA to those

under preventive imprisonment or those detained prior and during criminal

trial, who are deemed too dangerous for release; increase the number of

days that may be credited for GCTA; allow an additional sentence deduction

of 15 days for each month of study, teaching, or mentoring service; and

expand the special time allowance for loyalty and make it applicable to those

under preventive imprisonment. In RA 10592, during the first two years of

imprisonment there will be 20 days deduction for each month of good

behavior. During the third to fifth year of imprisonment, there will be 23

days deduction for each month of good behavior. During the following years

until the tenth years of imprisonment, there will be 25 days deduction for

each month of good behavior. During the eleventh and successive years of

his imprisonment, there will be 30 days deduction for each month of good

behavior. Lastly, at any time during imprisonment, there will be 15 days of

deduction for each month of study, teaching or mentoring service time

rendered. In cases of "special circumstances," such as calamities, prisoners

who, after evading preventive imprisonment or the service of their sentence,

give themselves up to authorities within 48 hours after the "circumstance"

had passed, will get a "loyalty" deduction of one-fifth of their sentence.ii

Section 5 of the law says the BuCor director, the Bureau of Jail Management

and Penology chief, and/or the warden of a provincial, district, municipal or

city jail “shall grant allowances for good conduct.”iii

On June 2019, New Bilibid Prison Inmates filed a petition of certiorari

for voiding the Sec. 4 Rule 1 of IRR of the RA 10592 which states that the

grant of time allowance of prisoners for good conduct, study, teaching, and

mentoring service, and loyalty “shall be prospective in application.”

However, the Supreme Court declared Sec. 4, Rule 1 of the Implementing

Rules and Regulations of RA 10592 invalid insofar as it provides for the

prospective application of the grant of good conduct time allowance, time

allowance for study, teaching and mentoring, and special time allowance for

loyalty. The Director General of the Bureau of Corrections and the Chief of

the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology are REQUIRED to RE-COMPUTE

with reasonable dispatch the time allowances due to petitioners and all those

who are similarly situated and, thereafter, to CAUSE their immediate release

from imprisonment in case of full service of sentence, unless they are being

confined thereat for any other lawful cause.iv This decision was immediately

executor.

Inmates who display good behavior and don’t have any records of

breach of discipline or violation of prison rules and regulation may eligible for

GCTA, according to BuCor operating manual. The IIRA of RA 10592 defines

good behavior as “the conspicuous and satisfactory behavior of a detention

or convicted prisoner consisting of active involvement in rehabilitation

programs, productive participation in authorized work activities or

accomplishment of exemplary deeds coupled with faithful obedience to all

prison/jail rules and regulationsv”. However, those excluded from this law

are the Recidivists or those who “have been convicted previously twice or

more times of any crime,” habitual delinquents, escapees and persons

charged with heinous crimes are excluded from its coverage, according to

section 1 of RA 10592. Heinous crime was defined under RA 7659 as

“grievous, odious and hateful offenses and which, by reason of their inherent

or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are repugnant

and outrageous to the common standards and norms of decency and

morality in a just, civilized and ordered society.”

 Prison was made for the people who committed felonies, this was not

made for them to rot in that cell. This was made for them to realize and to

reflect to what have they done that brought them in that place. GCTA Law is

one of the hopes of the prisoners to start again. By showing good behavior

and having discipline are also a practice for them once they are out of

prison.

A lot of people are still debating the GCTA Law, is it good or it just

brings bad in our society. I asked my niece who is an 8-year-old-girl, about

this topic, and she said that some prisoners might want to do a bad again in

the future and will do good once they are in jail for them to be out of again.

That actually hit me, some might take advantage of the law or some might

cheat the law. What happened to Former Mayor Sanchez was really an eye

opening about this law. However, GCTA may have been abused and misused

for decades already but, there are still some who was benefited from it due

to proper evaluation. A small amount of percentage is still a percentage. An

offender who is in prison for the rest of his life or some would even have

several life sentences but, it is certainly not as equal to death penalty.

Criminal Justice here in the Philippines have the tendency to be an error-

prone there are still a lot of chance where an innocent man is convicted and

the GCTA is the only hope for them even though justice did not do his job.

i
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/240335-things-to-know-about-revised-irr-gcta-law-2019
ii
https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-sheet-understanding-good-conduct-time-allowa
iii
https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-sheet-understanding-good-conduct-time-allowa
iv
http://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2019junedecisions.php?id=338.
v
http://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2019junedecisions.php?id=338