Statement of Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri on GCTA Law

We intend to go back to work tomorrow armed with possible amendments to that Good conduct Law by making it specific that Convicts of heinous crimes especially those such as Murder, drug trafficking, Kidnap for Ransom and other highly dangerous criminals cannot avail of the program PERIOD. These individuals are too dangerous-to release back in the streets and imagine the families and individuals who testified against them will be in extreme danger. All a dangerous criminal has to do is to pretend to be very nice for a decade and then applies for the program and he is released from his predicament only to get back at those who filed and testified against him. Everyone now will be afraid to testify and go against Criminals of heinous crimes. Cases like that have happened in other countries like the United states where criminals released on good behavior had become recidivists and preyed on other victims in other States after relocating. So let's clearly define that there will be no commutation of Life sentences for certain crimes, no exemptions. That way there should be no controversy such as this one of mayor Sanchez happening again. By the way, I was no longer Senator when that law was passed in 2013. I did not and would not have voted in favor of a law that favored criminals over their victims.