Four days before President Rodrigo Duterte's deadline of 15 days for convicts of heinous crimes lapse, the Philippine National Police ( PNP) is still optimistic the turnout will be at least 50 percent.

“We are optimistic that the turnout will be at least 50 percent of the total number. More are expected to surrender even after deadline,” said Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesperson, told The Daily Manila Shimbun in a text message.

As of Monday, only 435 out of the 1,914 freed inmates convicted of heinous crimes surrendered to the authorities.

These inmates were released through the controversial good conduct time allowance (GCTA) which is why Duterte ordered them to return to the Bureau of Correction to recompute if they deserve to be freed.

Of the 435 surrenderees, 253 were turned over to BuCor custody.

Highest number of surrenderees are those who are convicted of murder (140) and rape (130).

After the period lapses, the PNP said they will deploy tracker teams to arrest the remaining freed inmates but they continue to urge them to surrender even after the deadline.

“Even after deadline, we continue to urge them to surrender instead of hiding, evading or facing the discomfort and inconvenience of getting arrested by tracker teams,” Banac added.

The PNP assured the inmates they can be free if it turns out that they are qualified to be GCTA beneficiaries. Ella Dionisio/DMS