I.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF GCTA

Implementation of the Good Conduct Time Allowance or GCTA law had drawn

controversy following reports that that convicted murderer-rapist and former Calauan, Laguna

Mayor Antonio Sanchez was up for early release in August. Sanchez was convicted in 1995 for

the deaths of University of the Philippines-Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez,

as well as the double murder of father and son Nelson and Rickson Peñalosa. He remains in prison

after his possible release prompted public outcry.

After public outrage over the aborted release of Sanchez, and the completed releases of other high-

profile convicts such as Chinese drug lords and the murderers of the Chiong sisters of Cebu, the

Duterte government temporarily suspended the GCTA system and sought to exclude heinous

crimes from RA 10592.

Government officials have been debating whether or not people convicted of heinous crimes

should benefit from the GCTA law which allows for a reduction of sentences of PDLs (persons

deprived of liberty), depending on how well they abide by prison rules and regulations.

The GCTA controversy has prompted a Senate investigation. The justice and interior departments

suspended processing prisoner applications for early release pending review of the system.

The Palace has said that 2013 law excluded recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons

charged with heinous crimes from its coverage.

Data from the Bureau of Corrections showed that of the 22,049 persons deprived of liberty (PDL)

released from 2014 to 2019 due to good conduct time allowance, 1,914 had been convicted of

heinous crimes such as murder and rape.

Of those convicted of heinous crimes:

 Murder - 797

 Rape – 758

 Robbery with Violence or Intimidation - 274

 Drug-Related Offenses - 48

 Kidnapping with Illegal Detention - 5

 Parricide - 29

 Destructive Arson - 3

 Total: 1,914

September 4, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered thousands of heinous crime convicts

released under the GCTA law to surrender and register themselves with the Bureau of Correction

(BuCor) within 15 days or until September 19. A recomputation of their GCTA will follow after

surrender. (https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/706926/duterte-to-inmates-freed-

due-to-gcta-surrender-in-15-days-or-else/story/)

“After Sept. 19 and they (PDLs) refuse (to surrender), we have already taken this position since

under the law and under the existing jurisprudence you have not completed the service of your

sentence and it is your duty to serve it to the fullest,” Guevarra said

“We gave you notice, we gave you a grace period of 15 days (yet) you refused without justifiable

reason then in effect you are committing the offense of evasion of sentence,” he added.

(https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/09/16/doj-dilg-release-new-irr-for-expanded-gcta/)
II. OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER

Enumerated below the objectives of the paper

1. Visit the Republic Act 10592 - Entitled AN ACT AMENDING ARTICLES 29, 94,

97, 98 AND 99 OF ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE

REVISED PENAL CODE (GCTA LAW)

2. Cite the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulation of GCTA Law

3. To determine the implications on granting of good conduct time allowance to convicted

prisoners that commits heinous crimes.

4. Recomputation of good conduct time allowance using Spreadsheet, based on different

assumptions

5. Application of Management Science Principles helpful in GCTA

REPUBLIC ACT 10592 – GCTA LAW

Entitled AN ACT AMENDING ARTICLES 29, 94, 97, 98 AND 99 OF ACT NO. 3815,

AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE REVISED PENAL CODE, authorizes the

credit of preventive imprisonment and a revision of good conduct time allowance of Person

Deprived of Liberty (PDL).

SECTION 1. Article 29 of Act No. 3815, as amended, otherwise known as the Revised Penal

Code, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

“ART. 29. Period of preventive imprisonment deducted from term of imprisonment. – Offenders

or accused who have undergone preventive imprisonment shall be credited in the service of their

sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty, with the full time during which they have undergone

preventive imprisonment if the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing after being

informed of the effects thereof and with the assistance of counsel to abide by the same disciplinary

rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, except in the following cases:

“1. When they are recidivists, or have been convicted previously twice or more times of any crime;

and

“2. When upon being summoned for the execution of their sentence they have failed to surrender

voluntarily.

“If the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon

convicted prisoners, he shall do so in writing with the assistance of a counsel and shall be credited
in the service of his sentence with four-fifths of the time during which he has undergone preventive

imprisonment.

“Credit for preventive imprisonment for the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be deducted from

thirty (30) years.

“Whenever an accused has undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal to the possible

maximum imprisonment of the offense charged to which he may be sentenced and his case is not

yet terminated, he shall be released immediately without prejudice to the continuation of the trial

thereof or the proceeding on appeal, if the same is under review. Computation of preventive

imprisonment for purposes of immediate release under this paragraph shall be the actual period of

detention with good conduct time allowance: Provided, however, That if the accused is absent

without justifiable cause at any stage of the trial, the court may motu proprio order the rearrest of

the accused: Provided, finally, That recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged

with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage of this Act. In case the maximum penalty to

which the accused may be sentenced is lestierro, he shall be released after thirty (30) days of

preventive imprisonment.”

SEC. 2. Article 94 of the same Act is hereby further amended to read as follows:

“ART. 94. Partial extinction of criminal liability. – Criminal liability is extinguished partially:

“1. By conditional pardon;

“2. By commutation of the sentence; and

“3. For good conduct allowances which the culprit may earn while he is undergoing preventive

imprisonment or serving his sentence.”

SEC. 3. Article 97 of the same Act is hereby further amended to read as follows:

“ART. 97. Allowance for good conduct. – The good conduct of any offender qualified for credit

for preventive imprisonment pursuant to Article 29 of this Code, or of any convicted prisoner in

any penal institution, rehabilitation or detention center or any other local jail shall entitle him to

the following deductions from the period of his sentence:

“1. During the first two years of imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of twenty days for

each month of good behavior during detention;

“2. During the third to the fifth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a reduction

of twenty-three days for each month of good behavior during detention;

“3. During the following years until the tenth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be

allowed a deduction of twenty-five days for each month of good behavior during detention;

“4. During the eleventh and successive years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction

of thirty days for each month of good behavior during detention; and

“5. At any time during the period of imprisonment, he shall be allowed another deduction of fifteen

days, in addition to numbers one to four hereof, for each month of study, teaching or mentoring

service time rendered.

“An appeal by the accused shall not deprive him of entitlement to the above allowances for good

conduct.”

SEC. 4. Article 98 of the same Act is hereby further amended to read as follows:
“ART. 98. Special time allowance for loyalty. – A deduction of one fifth of the period of his

sentence shall be granted to any prisoner who, having evaded his preventive imprisonment or the

service of his sentence under the circumstances mentioned in Article 158 of this Code, gives

himself up to the authorities within 48 hours following the issuance of a proclamation announcing

the passing away of the calamity or catastrophe referred to in said article. A deduction of two-

fifths of the period of his sentence shall be granted in case said prisoner chose to stay in the place

of his confinement notwithstanding the existence of a calamity or catastrophe enumerated in

Article 158 of this Code.

“This Article shall apply to any prisoner whether undergoing preventive imprisonment or serving

sentence.”

SEC. 5. Article 99 of the same Act is hereby further amended to read as follows:”

“ART. 99. Who grants time allowances. – Whenever lawfully justified, the Director of the Bureau

of Corrections, the Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and/or the Warden of a

provincial, district, municipal or city jail shall grant allowances for good conduct. Such allowances

once granted shall not be revoked.”

SEC. 6. Penal Clause. – Faithful compliance with the provisions of this Act is hereby mandated.

As such, the penalty of one (1) year imprisonment, a fine of One hundred thousand pesos

(P100,000.00) and perpetual disqualification to hold office shall be imposed against any public

officer or employee who violates the provisions of this Act.

The law further allows the Director General of BuCor, Chief of the BJMP, and Wardens (of

provincial, district, municipal or city jails) to grant time allowances for good conduct, studying,
teaching or mentoring and/or loyalty. Previously, only the BuCor Director was authorized to grant

such privilege.

The reckoning period for the new computation of GCTA, TASTM, and STAL pursuant to RA No.

10592 shall be on 10 October 2013.

It was during the Aquino administration that the GCTA law was expanded to include detention

time. A Supreme Court ruling this June 2019, meanwhile, affirmed its retroactive effect.

Article 22. Retroactive effect of penal laws. – Penal laws shall have a retroactive effect insofar as

they favor the persons guilty of the felony, who is not a habitual criminal, as this term is defined

in Rule 5 of Article 62 of this Code, although at the time of the publication of such laws a final

sentence has been pronounced and the convict is serving the same.
REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATION (IRR) OF THE GOOD

CONDUCT TIME ALLOWANCE LAW (GCTA LAW) – Signed September 16, 2019

The joint committee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of the Interior

and Local Government (DILG) announced on Tuesday, September 16, that it has revised the IRR

of RA 10592 and categorically excluded heinous crime convicts from the GCTA Law.

Here are the salient amendments in the new IRR:

1. Recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees, those charged with heinous crimes and an accused

who, upon being summoned for the execution of his sentence has failed to surrender voluntarily

before a court of law, are excluded from good conduct time allowance under RA 10592 (Section

2, Rule IV)

2. Prisoners disqualified under RA 10592, such as heinous crime convicts, but who were

convicted before the law became effective in 2013 shall be entitled to good conduct time

allowance under the Revised Penal Code (2nd paragraph, Section 1, Rule XIII)

3. Prisoners disqualified under RA 10592, such as heinous crime convicts, and who were

convicted after the law became effective in 2013, shall not be entitled to any type of good conduct

time allowance (3rd paragraph, Section 1, Rule XIII)

4. Heinous crimes are the same heinous crimes defined under Republic Act 7659 or the now-

repealed death penalty law. It is the DOJ's view that RA 7659 was repealed only insofar as

imposing the death penalty, but not the definition of heinous crimes (Section 1n, Rule II)
5. To increase transparency, the Management, Screening and Evaluation Committee (MSEC) shall

publish the list of prisoners who may be qualified for release on 3 conspicuous places within the

jail premises and/or uploaded in their respective websites subject to the Data Privacy Act (Section

3c, Rule VIII)

6. The MSEC shall invite representatives from accredited civil society organizations to appear as

observers during deliberations (Section 4, Rule VIII)

7. To encourage sustained good behavior, the new IRR says accrued time allowances shall be

granted at the end of the prisoners' 2nd year, 5th year, 10th year, 11th year and every year

thereafter (Section 2, Rule IX)

However, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra recognized that the law itself said GCTA

shall be granted on a monthly basis. Guevarra said a revised manual would further discuss this

section, and would define certain types of offenses that could disqualify a prisoner from GCTA,

in order to encourage sustained good behavior. The DOJ and DILG joint committee has been given

another 60 days to complete the revision of the manual.

8. The grant of time allowances to a disqualified prisoner, whether under the previous or present

Rules, shall not extinguish criminal liability (Section 1, Rule X) – Source: Rappler

"We made it clear that if the Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL) is disqualified but had been

under preventive imprisonment or served sentence prior to the effectivity of RA 10592, lower time

allowances under the Revised Penal Code will continue to accrue but a disqualified PDL placed

under preventive detention or convicted after effectivity of RA 10592 will not earn any such

additional allowance," Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said after he and Interior Secretary
Eduardo Año signed the new IRR. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/16/19/govt-issues-new-

rules-on-gcta-law

Guevarra said a Management Screening and Evaluation Committee (MSEC) will look into

the time credits and grant of time allowances to entitled persons deprived of liberties (PDLs). Aside

from DOJ, Guevarra said accredited civil society organization will also be part of the deliberation.

And as part of transparency, Guevarra said the revised IRR included the publication of the

names of PDLs that may be due for release because of GCTA on the website of concerned

government agencies such as DOJ and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

HEINOUS CRIMES

In the debate over the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law, the spotlight shone on

heinous crimes.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra explained that as a guide on what heinous crimes are, the

revised IRR has adopted the definition of heinous crimes under Republic Act 7659 or the Death

Penalty Law as well as Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Under RA 7659 or an act to impose the death penalty on certain heinous crimes, amending for

that purpose the revised penal laws, as amended, other special penal laws, and for other purposes

or Death Penalty Law, heinous crimes are the following:

 Treason

 Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas in Philippine waters

 Qualified piracy

 Qualified bribery

 Parricide

 Murder

 Infanticide

 Kidnapping and serious illegal detention

 Plunder

 Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons

 Destructive arson

 Rape
  Importation, distribution, manufacturing and possession of prohibited drugs

These crimes were considered heinous “for being 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.”

Individuals convicted of the above-mentioned crimes were sentenced to death.

This, however, was eventually reduced to reclusion perpetua after the abolition of the death penalty

in 2006 under then-president Gloria Arroyo through RA 9436. Reclusion perpetua entails

imprisonment of at least 20 years and a day up to a maximum of 40 years, after which a prisoner

can be eligible for parole – unless otherwise specified.

Under the new Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592, heinous crime

convicts detained after 2013 will be unable to avail of any type of good conduct time allowance.

Guevarra said heinous crime convicts detained before 2013, or before RA 10592 became effective,

can still avail of the much lesser GCTA under the Revised Penal Code. But heinous crime convicts

detained after the law was passed cannot avail of any good conduct time allowance.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/240267-heinous-crime-convicts-after-2013-cannot-avail-gcta

RA 10592 can slash up to half an inmate's sentence convicted of heinous crimes, crediting 20 days

per month on only the first two years of sentence. Article 97 of the Revised Penal Code (Act No.

3815, s. 1930) only gives a good conduct credit of 5 days each month on the first two years of

sentence. – Rappler.com
ARTICLE 97. Allowance for Good Conduct. — The good conduct of any prisoner in any penal

institution shall entitle him to the following deductions from the period of his sentence:

1. During the first two years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction of five days

for each month of good behavior;

2. During the third to the fifth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a

deduction of eight days for each month of good behavior;

3. During the following years until the tenth year, inclusive, of his imprisonment, he shall be

allowed a deduction of ten days for each month of good behavior; and

4. During the eleventh and successive years of his imprisonment, he shall be allowed a deduction

of fifteen days for each month of good behavior.

–Source: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1930/12/08/act-no-3815-s-1930/
UPDATES

As of September 16, 2019 Saturday, out of 1,914 heinous crimes convicts who have been

freed through the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, a total of 612 have

surrendered and returned to the custody of BuCor, said Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete

twelve (11) days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered prisoners released to surrender or be

hunted down by cops. https://politics.com.ph/612-inmates-freed-due-to-gcta-surrender-as-of-

sept-16/

September 16, 2019 The DOJ and the Department of Interior and Local Government completed

and signed the revised Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of GCTA Law Republic Act

10592.

Meanwhile, the DOJ-DILG review committee will have 60 more days to complete their work on

the Uniform Policy and Guidelines regarding computation of credits and allowances. This is the

same committee that completed the revised IRR of RA 10592.

(https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1165234/doj-dilg-complete-sign-revised-irr-of-gcta-law)
 VII. MANAGEMENT SCIENCE PRINCIPLES HELPFUL IN GCTA

C. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT is a set of activities that ensure goals are met in an

effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an

organization, a department, an employee, or the processes in place to manage particular tasks.

Performance management standards are generally organized and disseminated by senior leadership

at an organization, and by task owners. Managers use performance management to align company

goals with the goals of teams and employees in an effort to increase efficiency, productivity, and

profitability. (Wikipedia)

On the application of performance management in the case of GCTA Law, Department of

Justice, DILG, and Bureau of Correction (BuCor) may use the following performance evaluation

on the grant of good conduct time allowance to Prison Deprived of Liberty (PDL):

First, make a complete lists of convicted prisoners or the Prisons Deprived of Liberty

(PDL) using spreadsheet or create a BuCor System for proper inventory of inmates, including the

committed crime, date of detention, date of conviction and estimated date of release;

Next, separate the lists of those PDL convicted of heinous crimes;

Next, categorize of which among prisoners benefit from the good conduct time allowance

which allows for a reduction of their sentences. Tag the accrued credits of good conduct time

allowance during the 2nd, 5th, 10th and 11th year and year thereafter of imprisonment;
 Next, using the “Critical Incident” (a performance review technique), keep a record of all

the committed violations of each PDL as stated in the “Prison Rules of Violation” of the Uniform

Manual on Time Allowances and Service of Sentence, that is ground for non-entitlement for the

grant of GCTA for the said month, provided that such would not prejudice the imposition of other

penalties;

Next, using the spreadsheet the BuCor employee can easily compute the total number of

good conduct time allowance earned by each PDL, subject for review of BuCor Director and DOJ;

Next, using “Ranking Method” (a performance review technique) rank Prisons Deprived

of Liberty or PDL from the earliest to latest possible date of release after the application of the

credited good conduct time allowance and other allowances enumerated in RA10592 and Revised

IRR of GCTA Law; and

Finally, submit the lists of possible PDL to freed subject for review and final approval of

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary.