MANILA, Philippines – Former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas and detained Senator Leila de Lima have broken their silence amid reports linking them to the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.
Roxas and De Lima were among those who drafted the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
The Office of the Ombudsman has requested Roxas and De Lima to explain why the provisions concerning convicts of heinous crimes in relation to the GCTA privilege was not clarified in the IRR.
But the former Interior chief maintained that the IRR shouldn’t be blamed just because the law wasn’t properly implemented.
In a tweet, Roxas stressed that those who approved the convicts’ release order should face the questioning, not those who drafted the IRR.
He accused his critics of passing the buck because of the controversial law.
Nevertheless, Roxas vowed to appear and cooperate in the Ombudsman’s probe.
“Apparently iimbestigahan ng Ombudsman itong (The Ombudsman will probe this) GCTA issue. Well and good, at masasagot ko kung ano man ang mga tanong nila (I will have the chance to answer their questions),” Roxas tweeted.
Meanwhile, De Lima expressed doubts over the intention behind the linking of her name to the GCTA issue when she has nothing to do with the controversy.
“I find this development highly irregular,” the lady senator said in a statement.
De Lima emphasized that the focus of the probe should be on whether or not the officials of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) followed the rules and reviewed the cases using the proper guidelines of releasing a convict under GCTA.
Roxas and De Lima were given three days to respond to the request of the Ombudsman.
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman has launched a fact-finding investigation to determine the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the GCTA law. — MNP (with reports from Joan Nano)
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