Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon attends the Senate hearing on GCTA law on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (Photo by CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net )
MANILA, Philippines — Up to the last minute, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Nicanor Faeldon continued to deny, through his lawyer, that he signed the release orders of rape-murder convict Antonio Sanchez, a former mayor of Calauan, Laguna.
In a series of tweets posted on Sunday evening, Faeldon’s lawyer, Jose Diño came to the defense of the embattled BuCor chief, who was set to appear in a Senate hearing on Monday regarding issues on the application of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) under the Republic Act No. 10592, which was passed in May 2013.
https://twitter.com/FaeldonLegal/status/1168109680708612096?s=20
Diño stressed what Faeldon had insisted for two weeks: He did not issue an order for the release of Sanchez, amid news reports showing an Aug. 20 document signed by him.
“The Prisons Superintendent is the one who issues a release order,” Diño noted. “[Faeldon] immediately aborted Sanchez’s release by ordering a more thorough review of his GCTA approval.”
BuCor and its parent agency, the Department of Justice, were assailed after they previously hinted Sanchez was among the 11,000 convicts who might be released sooner than their supposed sentences because of the retroactive application of RA 10592 as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Sanchez was supposed to serve 280 years in prison for the 1995 rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her friend, Allan Gomez — both students of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
He was also convicted for another 80 years for the murder of Nelson Peñalosa and his son Rick. Nelson was then a political leader and supporter of Sanchez’s political opponent.
Faeldon, however, admitted signing the GCTA approval for heinous crime convicts, but with a caveat that “so did ALL of his predecessors who, like him, relied on the expert review, validation and processing by an MSEC.”
The MSEC refers to the management, screening and evaluation committee, which recommends approval of GCTA, among other time allowances. It is composed of BuCor officers, a probation and parole officer, a psychologist and a social worker.
Citing BuCor data from January 2014 to Aug. 20, 2019, Diño said that out of the 18,885 convicts released after being granted GCTA, 2,159 were convicted of heinous crimes.
The numbers were higher by 245 than the one released last Thursday by BuCor chief legal officer Frederic Anthony Santos.
READ: 1,914 heinous crime convicts freed under good conduct law
Most of those released from BuCor prisons were rapists (939) and murderers (874).
Others were convicted of Dangerous Drugs Act (261), kidnapping (42), parricide (32), destructive arson (six), bribery (three), and two of other offenses.
Convicts of heinous crimes were released since RA 10592 not just in the time of Faeldon, but under different administrations of appointed director generals and officers in charge.
The DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government is currently reviewing the implementing rules and regulations of RA 10592, including whether heinous crimes convicts be barred for GCTA eligibility or not.
Diño maintained Faeldon did not receive any bribes to approve the GCTA of heinous crimes convicts.
“No, not even a single centavo. He who alleges must prove,” he said, adding that accusers may file charges and present their evidence before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Diño called his client’s “grudge-bearers” the same people who came out “wild insinuations of bribery and corruption” against Faeldon when he was the chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in 2017.
Faeldon served for a little over a year in BOC until August 2017 when he resigned after P6.8 billion worth of “shabu” or crystal meth was found to have been smuggled from China through Manila International Container Terminal.
“Malalim ang hugot at obvious grudges ng 3 maiingay na ito,” Diño said.
Senators had criticized Faeldon for releasing convicts of heinous crimes, as well as the clandestine release of four Chinese drug lords, and three of the convicted murderers in the high-profile slay of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in Cebu City in 1997.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III called for a revamp of BuCor officials, while Sen. Panfilo Lacson compelled President Duterte to take “drastic actions” against the “recycled” Faeldon.
READ: Clamor mounts for ouster of BuCor chief
/atm