No proof linking Faeldon to GCTA scheme, but…

MANILA, Philippines — Although there is no direct evidence linking Nicanor Faeldon to the corruption in the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), he should have prevented the malpractices.

This was the assertion of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who wanted Faeldon charged for incompetence and negligence.

“There is incompetence or negligence for having failed to catch this kind of anomaly happening under his very nose,” Drilon said over dwIZ yesterday.

Drilon said Faeldon, as the head of the penal agency, should have been aware of the malpractices committed by his subordinates.

“He is incompetent as head of BuCor. These should not have happened if he were strict in running the agency,” Drilon said.

Drilon also supported calls of other senators to place under preventive suspension all prison officials linked to the mess.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson echoed Drilon’s statements, saying there is no direct evidence linking Faeldon in the testimony of witness Yolanda Camilon.

Camilon on Thursday revealed before the Senate hearing the massive racket of prison officials, where convicts are released by tampering with their good behavior records in exchange for huge sums of money.

“We have information coming in (that this racket is) all the way to the top. But proving it is another matter,” Lacson said.

“There is no direct link to Faeldon but we can see some circumstances. Why is it the inmates in the maximum (security) are the first to be released? There were six or seven Chinese drug lords coming from the maximum that benefited from the GCTA. Even Sanchez?” Lacson remarked, referring to the good conduct time allowance law and convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez.

Lacson said it would be easier to believe if an inmate was transferred from maximum security to minimum.

Lacson stressed the GCTA mess is so extensive that it prompted all agencies of the government led by the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the anomaly.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would not impose his personal opinion on the ongoing Senate investigation on the GCTA anomaly and would rather leave the matter to the Blue Ribbon committee to submit its report.

Sotto said he is 100 percent convinced that corruption has been taking place in the penal system.

He said some prison officials are making a profitable business from the misery of the prisoners.

On the claims of Faeldon that he does not know Camilon’s allegation, Sotto said the erstwhile BuCor chief could have been “blindsided” by his subordinates.

Senators have been skeptical of Faeldon since the start of inquiry last month and had called for his resignation. They believe Faeldon had a prior arrangement with Sanchez’s family for his release.

But after President Duterte fired Faeldon from the BuCor, some of the senators that included Sotto were of the impression that the erstwhile prisons chief was simply kept out of the loop by his men.

On Thursday, Lacson questioned the BuCor officials for the apparent haste to sign the release of 44 prisoners on Aug. 16, while Faeldon was reportedly in Sablayan Jail in Misamis Oritental.

Lacson said it was apparent that money changed hands to facilitate the early release of some prisoners using the GCTA.