No decision yet on Faeldon replacement— Guevarra

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO / CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines — There is no decision yet on who would replace sacked Nicanor Faeldon as chief of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday fired Faeldon amid the controversy of the early release of heinous crime convicts based on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1161025/duterte-fires-faeldon-orders-1900-freed-convicts-to-surrender

Guevarra said the government would just assign an “officer-in-charge” until the President appoints a new director-general of the BuCor.

“Pansamantala, officer-in-charge or pwede namang ako na lang muna ang mag-designate nun,” Guevarra told reporters in an interview.

Asked if the newly-appointed BuCor deputy director Milfredo Melegrito, a retired brigadier general, will be designated as the agency’s officer-in-charge, Guevarra said it has not been decided yet.

“Bago lang si Gen. Melegrito. Kaka-appoint lang sa kanya,” Guevarra said.

“Maaaring siya yung highest pero baka dahil baguhan siya, hindi pa niya alam yung pasikut-sikot. But we will consider him,” he added.

BuCor is an attached agency of the Department of Justice.