MANILA, April 4 -- Prison officials say at least 10,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) will benefit from the recent ruling of the Supreme Court to include those who committed heinous crimes in the application of the good conduct time allowance (GCTA).

In G.R. No. 249027 and G.R. No. 249155 (Guinto et al., v. Department of Justice; Inmates of New Bilibid Prison, et al. v. Department of Justice, respectively), the High Court En Banc ruled that the Department of Justice (DOJ), in enacting its 2019 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), exceeded its power of subordinate legislation when it excluded persons convicted of heinous crimes from the benefits of Republic Act (RA) No. 10592, or the New Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law. ...