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Go argues that he has already fully served his sentence based on an adjusted computation of his prison term, a claim which the DOJ refutes
MANILA, Philippines – Murder convict Rolito Go can’t be released from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) just yet.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday, May 8, that Go stays in jail pending the appeal for judicial review filed against a Muntinlupa court’s order to have Go released.
“I have directed the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) to promptly file a motion for reconsideration (MR), and in the meantime hindi pa dapat siya i-release,” De Lima said in a chance interview. (I have directed the OSG to promptly file a motion for reconsideration, and in the meantime he should not yet be released.)
Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 204 Judge Juanita Guerrero earlier granted Go’s plea to release him. Go argued that he has already fully served his sentence based on an adjusted computation of his prison term.
But De Lima maintains Go has yet complete his term, based on the computation of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
Go’s status as an inmate
In arguing for his release, Go said he was already granted a colonist status as an inmate.
A colonist status is given to qualified and deserving inmates of a penal institution, allowing them to stay out of their prison cell but within the vicinity of the penal institution.
A prisoner with colonist status is also given credits for additional good conduct time allowance (GCTA), which reduces his sentence for each month of good behavior.
But De Lima, on Thursday, said a colonist status can only be granted by the president or the justice secretary, adding that she will review who at the BuCor granted Go a colonist status.
Go was granted colonist status in 2009. The BuCor Director at the time was Oscar Calderon.
Proposed legislations in the past pushed for the creation of an Advisory Council for the purpose of evaluating and approving the application of an inmate for colonist status.
1993 conviction
Then a wealthy businessman, Go was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) in 1993 for shooting De La Salle University student Eldon Maguan in a controversial road rage incident. The traffic altercation occurred on July 2, 1991 in Greenhills, San Juan.
Go once escaped from jail on November 1, 1993, prior to his conviction by the Pasig RTC. He was rearrested on April 30, 1996 in a Pampanga piggery and was jailed at the NBP maximum security afterwards.
During the presidency of now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Go appealed for executive clemency but was denied.
In August 2012, Go also disappeared from the NBP, allegedly abducted. He reappeared a day after.
The justice secretary assured the public that further legal action will apply if the appeal she asked to be filed is denied. “We have further remedies in case the MR is rejected,” De Lima said. – Rappler.com
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