I need to further say my piece relative to Sen. Gordon’s outlandish theory that the GCTA IRR was meant to be a money-making machine during my stint as Justice Secretary. He even insinuates that the IRR was made intentionally confusing to allow it to be used for the benefit of NBP drug lords.
I take deep offense to such posturing which reeks of malice and bad faith.
I don’t have here the comparative data as to the no. of PDL releases based on GCTA during the latter part of my DOJ stint when the Expanded GCTA Law and its IRR became effective. But I’m pretty sure said data would debunk Sen. Gordon’s fallacious claim that “[B]y the time de Lima ran (in Oct. 2015), many inmates were released.”
Sen. Gordon just have to compare PDL releases between Faeldon’s time (after the Supreme Court declared the retroactivity of RA 10592) with those made during my remaining DOJ stint after the IRR became effective on 18 April 2014.
If Sen. Gordon would only stop thinking through his mouth, he would have realized early on that the grant of the increased GCTA under the IRR (Rule 1, Sec. 4) was made prospective in application because of the anticipated administrative nightmare in the implementation of the Expanded GCTA Law, particularly on the screening and evaluation of the PDLs’ past conducts by the Management Screening and Evaluation Committee (MSEC), especially so that there are no reliable records of inmates’ past conduct.
During my time, therefore, the wholesale grant of the increased GCTA, as what happened recently, was an impossibility, quite the complete opposite of Gordon’s wild theory that the IRR was crafted in a way for me to turn it into a money-making venture. It was only after the SC declared the grant of the expanded GCTA retroactive in June this year that all hell broke loose. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming the Supreme Court. While I disagree with it, given the concerns/perspectives then of the IRR drafters (a joint BuCor-BJMP panel) as to the law’s implementation, I respect the SC decision. I blame the current implementors of the law. It was this SC ruling that evidently provided the opportunity for greedy or corrupt BuCor and prison officers and personnel to precipitately shorten the prison term of totally and notoriously undeserving PDLs and open the floodgates for the release of thousands.
Sen. Gordon also gratuitously and recklessly assumed that then DOJ Secretary (now SC Associate Justice) Benjamin Caguioa issued D.O. 953 because he must have sensed something wrong. The Caguioa D.O. in fact implies that heinous crime convicts under RA 10592 and its IRR are entitled convicts under RA 10592 and its IRR are entitled to GCTA, only that there should be certification as to the correctness of GCTA computation and that any such release requires the DOJ Secretary’s approval.
Said D.O. was deliberately ignored by Faeldon. Why isn’t Gordon making against Faeldon the obvious insinuation as clearly shown by the facts? With no proof whatsoever, Gordon would rather take it on me with his outlandish theory, instead of pinning down Faeldon.
I wonder what is Sen. Gordon’s beef with me, as he seemingly seizes any opportunity to discredit me. (Remember that Matobato hearing where he openly and baselessly chastised me for “material misrepresentation or concealment”?)
What’s your problem Sen. Gordon? O sadyang bisyo mo lang talaga ang manira ng mga tao na walang ebidensya at puro malisya lang ang lumalabas sa iyong bibig. Paki-ayos naman po ang utak mo. Pati konsensya na rin… ###
(Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 599, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleil…/…/dispatch_from_crame_no._599)