Disgraced Bureau of Corrections Director Nicanor Faeldon should have never been appointed to head that agency. Remember the P6.4-billion shabu brouhaha which happened under his watch at the Bureau of Customs? That’s not the only reason. By his own admission, he is incompetent to head any government office.
At the hearing of Senate Blue Ribbon Committee early this week regarding the release of convicts under the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, Senator Francis Tolentino asked Faeldon if he was aware that Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits the release of prisoners during the election period.
March 14 to June 12 was official election period this year. During this time, any official is barred from releasing any prisoner.
Surprisingly, Faeldon answered in the negative.
Does that mean he is not aware that the country is governed by law and that all government agencies are subject to these laws? What is his business heading a government office?
Had he just strictly adhered to the law, he would not have approved the release from the New Bilibid Prison of Taiwanese Chen Tiz Zang and four other Chinese convicts. In fact, he would not even have signed (only to withdraw later as he claims) the release of former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez on the basis of GCTA.
And he could not deny that, as immigration officials testified during the Senate hearing, these foreigners were released within the prohibited period, and were turned over to the BI for the start of deportation proceedings.
While the government had spent a fortune just trying to capture and convict those prisoners, all it took was a mere signature from Faeldon, disregarding the law in the process, just to let them go. Fortunately, as legal procedures move so slowly in the Philippines, the convicts are still here, under the custody of the government.
Nonetheless, Tolentino said that the release was granted it was in clear violation, willful violation of existing laws, especially the election code. “Therefore, it is void.”
According to records provided for by the Bureau of Immigration, the Taiwanese was released on April 1 and the four Chinese—Chan Chit Yue, Kin San Ho, Ching Che and Wu Hing Sum—were released on June 4. Ho Wai Pang was freed on June 6. All these releases were well within the election period.
At the Nangka media forum yesterday, PBA Rep. Jericho “Koko’ Nograles readily agreed there were irregularities in the release of some prisoners under the GCTA program. Aside from the fact they were released during the election period, the computation for the time to be deducted from the time they are supposed to serve appears questionable.
Nograles, citing the opinion of former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, said that in Sanchez’s case, the 26 years supposedly equivalent to his good conduct should not be deducted from 40 years, the maximum length of time he is supposed to serve, but rather on the aggregate total of the seven life terms he was sentenced to.
The irregularity in the computation for GCTA, Nograles says, could be rooted in corruption.
According to the party-list solon, a witness has already emerged, claiming money changes hands within the prison facility in exchange for the release of some prisoners under the much-abused GCTA program. The GCTA, after all, was not subject to outside scrutiny. It was an all-BuCor affair.
This is not to say Faeldon was involved in GCTA scam. He may not be even aware of that. He just simply signed the release papers submitted to his office. In other words, he was that incompetent. He did not check and counter-check. He did not validate the papers he was signing. He was not even aware he was violating the law when he was signing those papers.
The mess at the BuCor does not end with his Faeldon’s exit. He should be made accountable for everything he had done, along with other BuCor officials who transformed the GCTA into a money-making racket. Faeldon’s incompetence and ignorance of the law do not excuse him, and will not spare him.