CHR to probe killing of BuCor exec suspended in GCTA-for-sale scheme
MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will conduct its own investigation on the killing of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) legal division chief Frederick Anthony Santos, who was suspended for his alleged involvement in the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) irregularity.
Spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia on Thursday said that CHR condemned the attack on Santos, urging government action to avoid further attacks on other suspended BuCor personnel.
Santos was driving his Toyota Hilux along Katihan Street of Barangay Poblacion, Muntinlupa City on Wednesday afternoon when two assailants opened fire. He was on his way to fetch his daughter from her school.
He sustained gunshot wounds to the head and was declared dead on the spot.
“CHR will conduct its own investigation, and we will coordinate with law enforcement on all aspects of it,” De Guia said in a statement.
“CHR calls on our law enforcement authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to ensure that this incident isn’t repeated with Santos’ fellow suspended BuCor officials and personnel,” she added.
Santos was among the officials suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman last September 2019, as it was conducting its own investigation of the GCTA-for-sale scheme.
The GCTA issue was unearthed after it was revealed that convicted rapist and murderer, and former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez would be freed after gaining points from good conduct inside jail.
Sanchez was not freed, but it was revealed that at least 1,914 heinous crime convicts have been freed under the GCTA scheme, due to a supposed loophole in the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10592.
READ: Ombudsman suspends 3 more BuCor execs as probe into GCTA mess continues
Several individuals have already criticized the spate of killings, with Senator Richard Gordon saying that Santos was already the 15th BuCor official killed since 2011, and Senator Panfilo Lacson noting that the attacks signified how cheap life has become.
READ: ‘Can we all wake up to this?’ – Gordon on killing of BuCor official
READ: Lacson: Killing of BuCor legal chief shows how ‘cheap’ life has become
