Senate President Vicente Sotto III
MANILA -- Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday said President Rodrigo Duterte may probably initiate a total revamp of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) amid the controversies hounding the agency over the early release of more than a thousand heinous crime convicts on the basis of good conduct.
“The way I know the President, I’ll venture a guess, that he will revamp the whole officialdom,” Sotto said in an ambush interview when asked on his stand on the growing clamor for BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon’s resignation.
“He will not leave anyone behind,” he said.
Sotto added that he totally agrees with Senator Christopher “Bong” Go assessment that heads will roll in the ongoing controversy.
“I will support what Senator Bong Go said that heads will roll. Heads with the letter ‘s’,” Sotto said.
Data from BuCor shows that a total of 1,914 prisoners convicted of heinous crimes have been granted early release since 2014 because of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law.
Almost half of the inmates released, or 816 convicts, were released during the tenure of Faeldon, who was appointed the agency's head in October 2018.
The release of the heinous crime convicts was bared after the near release of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez who was convicted in the 1993 rape-slay of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the torture-killing of her companion Allan Gomez.
Earlier, Faeldon admitted before the Senate that he signed in August a memorandum recommending freedom for Sanchez, but he stopped the process "because I believe he is not entitled."
In the same month, the BuCor chief also signed release orders for three men convicted in the 1990s rape-slay of Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong. (PNA)
