Prisoner’s road to redemption halted by

President’s order to surrender

By Minka Klaudia Tiangco

Sixty-year-old “Dante” (not his real name), a former convict who was released on good conduct time
allowance (GCTA), was taking his first steps toward reintegration before he was picked up by the police in his
home in Malabon City and asked to surrender.

Dante, who served 30 years for the crime of robbery with homicide, surprised his family when he was released
April 1 this year.

One of Dante’s relatives, who requested anonymity, said Dante came to their house in the wee hours of the
night and showed them documents indicating that he had been released.
Since then, he assigned himself to household chores like house maintenance and attending to the many pets.
He also decided to try applying for jobs to help with the family’s expenses.

“Malaking tulong talaga siya, sa totoo lang (He is a big help to us, to be honest),” his relative said. “Pagbaba
ko diyan, usually, linis na lahat ‘yan. Eh marami kaming pusa.
Marami kaming aso (Usually, when I come down from the house, everything out here is already clean, despite
the fact that we own many cats
and dogs).”

But on Sept. 4, before he could

even get a job offer, Dante heard
President Duterte’s order for the
1,914 convicts to surrender to
authorities for a “recomputation”
of their benefits under the
GCTA law within 15 days.

Dante was confused. He started

watching newscasts about the
issue religiously and doubled his
efforts in doing household
chores, just in case he had to
surrender abruptly.

Five days after he first heard the

order, the policemen came while
he was listening to a televised
Senate hearing on the GCTA
issue. The policemen asked him
to surrender.

Although the deadline was still days away, and he had many unfinished tasks around the house, he had to face
two options: surrender to the authorities now, or refuse and get arrested, or killed, after 15 days. He decided to
surrender.
“Kung ang utos ng Presidente ay sumuko ang mga lumaya noong 2019 dahil sa GCTA, malamang kasama ako
ron (If the President’s order is for GCTA beneficiaries who were freed in 2019 to surrender, then I’m
included),” he told his family before he surrendered.

Dante’s family said his surrender is a “big loss” for them, and became a source of confusion.

“Nagtataka lang kami kasi na-serve na niya ‘yung sentence niya, na-reform na niya ‘yung buhay niya, baket
kailangan silang hulihin ulit? (We’re just wondering, if he has already served his sentence and has already
reformed his life, why is there a need to collar him again?)” his relative said.