Nicanor Faeldon, other BuCor execs keep posts for now

MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Nicanor Faeldon and other officials in hot water for the near release of convicted rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez and the granting of liberty to almost 2,000 other convicts may keep their jobs for now – or pending the results of a Senate probe on the issue, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said President Duterte would be monitoring the conduct of the legislative investigation and give appropriate consideration to the findings of Congress.

“As regards the officials in the Bureau of Corrections, the President will maintain the status quo until the congressional hearings are concluded,” Panelo said in a statement.

Asked about his take on Faeldon’s competence for the job, Panelo said, “I cannot say anything about that because, first, that lies on the President’s discretion. I will not be prejudging any person in this arena.”

Duterte, Panelo said, had made it clear, however, that he would decide on Faeldon’s fate after the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the issue.

“That’s for the President to decide. I talked with him yesterday (Monday) and that’s what he told me: ‘There is an ongoing investigation and I’ll wait for the investigation’,” the spokesman said.

“It’s the Senate investigation conducting it, they will be having their own recommendations and the President will evaluate and make a decision, unless sooner decided by the President himself,” he added.

Panelo said it would be up to Faeldon to decide whether to step down from his post.

“That’s his call. I would not want to suggest anything or imply anything. As far as I’m concerned, the President’s statement is clear: there is an investigation and I’ll wait for that investigation to terminate,” he said.

Panelo reiterated that Faeldon still enjoys Duterte’s trust and confidence “until such time as the President says otherwise.”

“The presumption is always the President gives you trust and confidence, but as he always tells all of us, ‘that is subject to change without prior notice. When I receive certain information that may impair the trust, then I will remove it.’ So, let’s wait for the President,” Panelo said.

Public outrage greeted the news of Sanchez’s being allowed to go free under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law, along with hundreds of others.

Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA law reduces the jail time of inmates who exhibit good behavior but excludes those guilty of heinous crimes, as well as habitual delinquents, recidivists and escapees.

Faeldon’s Senate appearance on Monday and yesterday only exposed inconsistencies in his statements regarding the controversy, and triggered even louder calls for his resignation or dismissal.

Sanchez was sentenced to seven life terms in 1995 for the 1993 rape and killing of UP Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her friend Allan Gomez.

Faeldon has denied ordering the release of Sanchez but admitted signing a “memorandum of release starting the process of the release of any person deprived of liberty.”

He has also claimed that he stopped the process because he had to review the GCTA granted to Sanchez.

Criminal offense

After the Senate hearing yesterday, Sen. Richard Gordon said Faeldon may be charged with criminal offenses of perjury and malfeasance for lying under oath before the Blue Ribbon committee, which he chairs.

Gordon said he and other senators were not convinced of Faeldon’s claim that he had tried to stop the release of Sanchez from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) less than an hour after he signed the convict’s discharge documents at noon of Aug. 20.

“That’s (Faeldon’s testimony) a lie,” Gordon told reporters after the hearing.

He described Faeldon’s testimony as “very inconsistent” and his behavior as “very evasive.”

“I don’t think he’s a credible man,” he said, adding the actions of Sanchez family members when they met Faeldon at the NBP on Aug. 21 seem to indicate a prior arrangement on both sides.

Gordon said a television interview of some members of the Sanchez family asking Faeldon to fulfill his promise seemed to suggest “something happened.”

On a possible malfeasance charge, he said senators and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra agreed that there was grave abuse of discretion in the order to release Sanchez, drug traffickers and other persons convicted of heinous crimes.

At the continuation of the inquiry yesterday, Faeldon maintained that days before he signed the order, he had been badgering BuCor legal officers to find a way to block Sanchez’s release but his subordinates kept warning him that he and the agency would be subjected to lawsuits for not implementing the GCTA law.

Faeldon also said he had instructed his deputies to use news footage of Sanchez living in a “kubol” (hut) as proof that the former Calauan, Laguna mayor was not qualified for GCTA.

The BuCor chief told the panel that while “pondering” his act in his office, a radio anchor called him to confirm reports that Sanchez had been freed. The call, he claimed, had jolted him into ordering his recall “memorandum.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Faeldon may have decided to withdraw his order due to public outcry as well as President Duterte’s directive to halt Sanchez’s release as relayed by Sen. Christopher Go and Secretary Guevarra on Aug. 21.

Lacson said there was no sense in Faeldon’s claim that he agonized over the decision as he simply could not have signed the order in the first place or tore it up immediately after signing it.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon presented to the committee Sanchez’s karpeta (prison record) which showed he was already earning GCTA “credits” while still on trial in 1993. In that year, he obtained 80 days reduction in his seven life sentences. In 1996 and 1997, Sanchez got a reduction of 276 days for each year.

The controversy over the law stemmed from ambiguities in some provisions, particularly its silence on whether those already convicted for heinous crimes may qualify for GCTA.

Faeldon said he merely followed previous BuCor practice of including in the GCTA those convicted for heinous crimes, which led to the freeing of 1,914 inmates since 2014.

When the controversy broke out last month, the Department of Justice ruled that those convicted for heinous crimes were not qualified for GCTA credits.

Gordon, meanwhile, expressed belief it was not the first time that members of the Sanchez family met with Faeldon.

Punish Faeldon

Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Faeldon, his immediate predecessors and other BuCor officials responsible for the release of 1,914 heinous crime convicts should be prosecuted and punished with prison terms if found guilty.

“They are liable for illegally releasing those convicts who were not qualified for good conduct time allowance. The law mandates faithful compliance and violators could be sent to jail for one year,” he told ABS-CBN News Channel.

He said the DOJ should initiate administrative and criminal investigation of those behind the release of the convicts.

Rodriguez was one of the House authors of the bill that later became RA 10592.

Rodriguez said RA 10592 also provides for a P100,000 fine and perpetual disqualification from public office for any official found guilty of violating the law approved in 2013 during the previous Aquino administration.

He said it is clear in the law that persons convicted of heinous crimes such as rape and murder are disqualified from good conduct time allowance. – With Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz