Duterte still trusts Faeldon: he is an ‘upright man’

NAGA CITY, Cebu—President Duterte may have fired him, but former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon has retained the trust of the Chief Executive.

“I still believe in (Faeldon). It was (he) who informed me about some smuggled cigarettes. Because of that report, (the nation) earned P37 billion,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech on Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of permanent houses for those affected by the landslide on Sept. 20, 2018.

Mr. Duterte said he sacked Faeldon on Wednesday for disobeying his orders to stop the release of thousands of convicts, including those who had committed heinous crimes, under the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

Aside from almost 2,000 convicts already released under the GCTA law, former Calauan, Laguna, Mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was sentenced to nine life terms for the rape-slay of UP student Eileen Sarmenta, the killing of fellow student Allan Gomez, and the murder of two other individuals, almost walked were it not for public outrage.

P6.4-B ‘shabu ’

This was not the first time that Faeldon had courted controversy.

In May 2017, the then Customs commissioner drew flak after P6.4 billion worth of “shabu” was smuggled into the country through the Manila International Container Port.

But in his speech, President Duterte said he still believed in the beleaguered official whom he described as an “upright man (tarong na taw).”

He, however, didn’t say if he would appoint Faeldon to another government post.

Chiong case

Among those listening to the President’s speech were Thelma and Dionesio Chiong, parents of rape-slay victims Marijoy and Jaqueline Chiong, three of whose killers were released under GCTA.

Released were Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño, who were among the seven convicted in the Chiong case.