Like the proverbial thief in the night, convicted murderers, rapists and drug lords were freed by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) through the now controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law.

This was the assessment made by Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committees on Justice and Human Rights and Blue Ribbon, who presided over the inquiry in aid of legislation to the botched release of convicted rapist and murderer ex-Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez.

“It came in like a thief in the night. The public was just surprised that they would be released,” Gordon told Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and BuCor director general Nicanor Faeldon.

“The public was not even advised or asked to give opinion. In our culture, those who were hurt by these prisoners should have been at least informed,” he added.

Gordon said that such questionable release of convicts only raises possible corruption in the bureau.

“You cannot blame the public if they think that some hanky-panky is happening. Can you?” Gordon asked Faeldon, who responded affirmatively.

During the hearing, Faeldon also admitted to setting free the three convicts involved in the Chiong sisters’ 1997 kidnapping, rape and murder.

The memorandum for the release of Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño, who were among the seven persons found guilty of the crimes against sisters Maryjoy and Jacqueline Chiong, was dated 16 August 2019.

Faeldon signed Sanchez’s release paper four days later.

The former Marine captain tried to evade questions posed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, but he later admitted to signing what he called as a “memorandum release” when a copy was presented by the lawmaker.

In the release of Caño and Balansag, the BuCor stated that they have “served 40 years upon retroactive application of RA 10592 (GCTA Law), pursuant to the provisions of Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code.”

The orders were signed by Corrections Technical Chief Supt. Maria Fe Marquez of the Directorate for Reformation and the head of the Management, Screening and Evaluation Committee.

“I cannot remember ordering the release of — because I really do not distinguish those cases, these PDL (persons deprived of liberty),” Faeldon told Lacson.

The lawmaker, however, showed him copies of the order.

“Have they been released?” Lacson asked.

Apart from the three, four others were convicted in the Chiong case, namely Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga, the great-grandson of the late President Sergio Osmeña Sr., Rowen Adlawan, James Andrew Uy and Uy’s brother who was a minor at that time.

In 2009, Larrañaga was moved to a Spanish prison because of his dual citizenship.

The Chiong sisters were kidnapped in a mall in Cebu on 16 July 1997.

The lifeless body of Maryjoy was recovered two days later down a cliff in Carcar town. The remains of Jacqueline have not been found.

Lacson also presented a memorandum dated 20 August 2019 signed by Faeldon, ordering the release of Sanchez.

Faeldon, however, claimed that he recalled the order.

He said it was meant to start the release process of the convicted rapist and murderer despite the order’s identical wordings with the papers that freed the Chiong sisters’ rapists and killers.

Sanchez’s aborted release triggered a massive public uproar that even President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his opposition to the BuCor order.