That the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has to issue a subpoena against Bureau Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon to compel him to attend a Senate hearing today speaks of the gravity of the perceived anomalies surrounding the release of inmates under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law.

No less than Senate President Vicente Sotto III signed the subpoena on Saturday night. He confirmed this through various interviews after Faeldon had initially sent word that he will not attend the hearing.

Maybe Faeldon, subject of a separate past Senate hearing on the big drug haul that passed the Bureau of Customs when he was still the BoC chief, thought he could get away with the folly of his release of 22,049 persons deprived of liberty due to the various crimes they have committed in the past.

These inmates had been released since 2014 due to GCTA.

There should not have been problems with that. Some prisoners deserve a second chance in life.

But of this number, 1,914 had been convicted of heinous crimes such as murder and rape. They should not have qualified for freedom under the GCTA. Some of them were recidivists and the others are facing other crimes outside of those they have been convicted with prison terms.

Faeldon is expected to be made to answer for the aborted release of former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez.

Sanchez was convicted for multiple life sentences for the murder and rape of UP-Los Banos student Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of her friend and companion Allan Gomez.

Sarmenta was first raped by Sanchez before he turned her over to his henchmen for “disposal.” His men then gang-raped Sarmenta before killing her. Gomez was murdered earlier, so that there was no witness to their crime.

They were wrong. Their companions talked and pointed at them.

Sanchez was also found to have been dealing with drugs while in prison. Some P1.5-million worth of shabu had been found in his possession in 2010.

Four years before that, he was also found in possession of a stash of marijuana in his cell. He also lived comfortably as a prisoner. His cell had a flat screen television, air-conditioning unit and a refrigerator. The other inmates live in squalid condition, but not the moneyed ones.

So tell us, does Sanchez qualify for the GCTA relief?

Faeldon thinks he does that he signed his release paper. A television network was able to secure a copy of the document that Faeldon had signed to set Sanchez free.

Faeldon had earlier denied giving Sanchez his paper to freedom. It seemed he lied about it.

The media was alert on Sanchez’s case that various reports that sought confirmation from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Malacanang have aborted his release.

The DoJ said the decision was with the BuCor, thus Faeldon.

Malacañang said those convicted of heinous crimes should not qualify for the GCTA relief.

Senator Panfilo Lacson suspects that money has changed hands for the freedom of the prisoners who have committed heinous crimes for them to be able to walk free.

Consider the seriousness of the offense committed by majority of those set free under the GCTA. Of the 1,914 who gained freedom supposedly through good conduct, 797 of them were sentenced for murder, 758 for rape, 274 for robbery with violence or intimidation, 48 for drug-related offenses, 29 for parricide, five for kidnapping with illegal detention and three for destructive arson.

Big time drug lords walked free, it was said.

Yet, the BuCor will not release their names, saying it fears retaliation from the families of their victims, with Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez quoting BuCor lawyer Fredric Anthony Santos as saying that these convicts are in danger of retaliation. So, it’s now the families of their victims who are being suspected– by a government agency no less– of planning crimes against these criminals. Wow!

Faeldon has a lot to answer if and when he faces the Senate. His transfer to the BuCor did not clear the issue of the drugs shipment during his reign at the BoC.

Worse, as it was being heard and still without resolution, Faeldon’s son and namesake, Nicanor Faeldon Jr., was among the four arrested during a drug raid in Naga City in December last year.

We are not aware about the results of the case about Faeldon Jr., he may have been set free and cleared of involvement in this drug case, but at the time of the raid, he was present at the house of Russel Bermundo Lanuzo of Barangay Mabolo, Naga City.

Police then said Lanuzo was not the main target of the drug raid, but his daughter — Zandra Mae Lanuzo.

Zandra Mae was the subject of months-long surveillance conducted by the Naga Police. Drugs were found in the Lanuza household where Faeldon Jr was present.

Zandra Mae, however, was said to be the girlfriend of the BuCor chief. Her case is also worth looking into. Even if she’s not Faeldon’s girlfriend as it was claimed by sources.

Faeldon should have resigned when this story broke out. But he did not.

He should have quit when tons of shabu passed under his nose when he wielded total reign of the Customs operations. But he did not.

Faeldon should spare his boss, the President, of further headaches. He has so much on his plate to deal with.

Some of the people in our office were not even born yet when the murder of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez took place in Laguna.

That was 25 years ago, but the horrors of the case recently came back to haunt us big time, all because of the prospect of the release of convicted former Mayor Antonio Sanchez.

I am not saying second chances are not for everyone. The issue has been propelled by emotional and moral undertones, true — but at the core is something we all may be able to agree on: whether or not those convicted of heinous crimes should benefit from the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.

This, I think, is where the sore point lies.

Now people are asking who else stands to benefit from this law; who really deserves it; and who has been released based on its application.

The last question made everyone sit up because names like Chiong and Larrañaga once more reared in our memories. Gruesome crimes, sensational cases — they served to kick us out of a stupor we tend to sink into when it comes to issues of the Philippine penal system.

The law is the law, we say, but is the law foolproof?

The Revised Penal Code, according to a Rappler timeline, was signed into law in December 1930.

So, almost 90 years ago, the law laid out, in Chapter 2, “the specifics of ‘partial extinction of criminal liability,’ including conditional pardon, commutation of sentence and good conduct allowances.”

Partial extinction, I take it, refers to the cutting short of a sentence, or its reduction. The last bit, “good conduct,” is among the current subjects of contention in terms of whether or not those who served time on good behavior have really been reformed.

It wasn’t until 5 November 2012 — or 82 years later — when a Senate Bill (SB) amended several articles of the Revised Penal Code. These amendments are in SB 3064.

Some months later, on 18 January 2013, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 417 amending Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code.

The controversial Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA law was signed on 29 May 2013 by then President Noynoy Aquino.

The release of high-profile convicts had raised this furor because hints of corruption had surfaced along with it.

For example, Sen. Panfilo Lacson had revealed that it seems the “moneyed” inmates had been able to avail themselves of the GCTA law (among them five drug lords!) — suggesting that their freedom had been bought.

Also troubling many is the fact that some 2,000 convicts had already been released since 2014.

Suspicions also arose because President Rodrigo Duterte had reacted negatively to the recent releases, and Palace had said the releases had not passed through the Chief Executive’s office.

There is a rotten smell emanating from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), and it’s not even from the body of a slain BuCor officer, gunned down by motorcycle-riding murderers.

Police, in latest updates as of this writing, are linking drugs to the murder, but the fact remains that this particular staff served in the office that handled the papers of prisoners’ release.

The cops say his work at BuCor’s Inmate’s Document Processing Division, which collates and processes “all paperwork concerning the recomputation of credits” for the GCTA, was not significant compared to the drug angle.

However, rumors persist that it may have had something to do with Sanchez’s “aborted release,” which, frankly, is making the entire situation scary for some people.

It is not about setting reformed convicts free to pursue the rest of their lives in peace.

It is about these laws — crafted by men, interpreted by men and possibly abused by men — which is stirring the pot of unease among us.