The Faeldon follies

“All these revelations clearly show grievous procedural and bureaucratic failures of prison officials, in need of someone astute enough to manage them all.

It is a foregone conclusion Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon’s goose is cooked.

I am stating this inevitability on a Wednesday — a mere three days after initial Senate investigations into the messy disastrous near-release of convict Antonio J. Sanchez — following the emerging general consensus for Faeldon to resign.

Should the general consensus hold, Faeldon losing his BuCor seat is now really a matter of time and a matter of whether he goes out on his own volition or is forced to resign.

But what time or what manner Mr. Faeldon goes out is of no consequence. It also doesn’t matter that he insists he won’t resign, on his mistaken belief he is doing a good job.

Mr. Faeldon’s case is now all about political expediency, a matter of gauging by the powers-that-be if he has outlived his usefulness or not.

But whatever this government decides to do or not to do with Mr. Faeldon, it cannot easily dispense with the glaring facts Mr. Faeldon had plainly exhibited gross incompetence and ignorance of the law and of the processes of his agency.

And nothing graphically demonstrates Faeldon’s incapacities than in Senate hearings where Sen. Richard Gordon can bluntly admonish the former Marine captain for frequently relying on subordinates to answer knotty questions raised by solons about what he knew of his job.

‘’Why you should be therefore director of prisons when you have to rely on others? Why don’t we just appoint the person you’re relying on?” Gordon asked sarcastically, concluding with, “You’re supposed to know your job. You’re not supposed to pass it.”

Many other instances from the hearings plainly showing Mr. Faeldon out of his depth can be pursued, enough to boot him out. So much so we wouldn’t even need to bother about questioning his integrity or about his woeful messy interpretations of the seemingly imperfect Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law.

Fortunately, we do have some time and space to energetically pursue one or two issues. One particular issue the Senate hearings exposed was all about how prison officers conducted official business, of whether they conducted above board official business inside the country’s prisons or not.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto got this unnerving point across by remarking, “The BuCor chief is just one who gives (time allowance) or counts, not to release (inmates) under the GCTA Law.”

But Faeldon and his subordinates seem to have gone way above board. And they are largely excusing their actions of signing release orders of those convicted with heinous crimes by insisting it was the common practice of previous justice and prison officials.

The excuses cannot hold water in face of one glaring fact — Faeldon and his subordinates were releasing convicts without the knowledge of their immediate boss, the Justice Secretary.

As a matter of fact, it was painful to watch Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra publicly soil himself when he admitted he only knew he alone could approve the release of inmates sentenced to reclusion perpetua when the Sanchez controversy broke out.

Guevarra’s powers to approve and disapprove releases come from a previous order of then Justice Secretary and now Supreme Court Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa, Department Order (DO) 953.

But Guevarra admits that since he became Justice Secretary in April 2018, his approval was never sought, with only approval requests for inmates to be released on “Special Time Allowance for Loyalty’’ from his underlings reaching him.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan asked Faeldon why he did not actively seek Guevarra’s approval before signing Sanchez’s release order when DO 953 clearly stated otherwise. Faeldon merely excused himself by saying there was an “earlier communication between the former director general of the BuCor and the former Secretary of Justice amending that procedure.”

Guevarra did not know of that “communication.’’

It is clear here Faeldon’s defense is a clear admission he had not consulted his current boss on such a sensitive issue, preferring to go by what former Justice and prison officials told him.

In short, Faeldon had gone over the head of his boss, appropriating his boss’ powers in the process.

But this was not the only issue. Faeldon’s subordinates had also invoked similar “communications,” which allegedly allowed them to release high-profile convicts by their sweet selves. Devastating consequences quickly ensued.

The suspicious procedures led to the release of the three rapist killers of the Chiong sisters in Cebu, who were set free last April by an assistant BuCor director for the Visayas, with the added allegation she also had faked the signature of Faeldon.

It also led to the release of four Chinese drug chemists, who were released by BuCor director Melencio Faustino from the Davao Penal Colony to the Bureau of Immigration for deportation to China even when Faustino wasn’t authorized by any law to sign any release order.

In his defense, Faustino said he “made several communications requesting for the delegation of power to release inmates.” And it seems this delegation of powers was somehow effected without anybody knowing how. So far, no written document has been presented about this “communication.”

A visibly peeved Sen. Panfilo Lacson also questioned the authority of Faustino to release convicted Taiwanese drug lord Chen Tiz Zang. “You usurped the authority of the BuCor,” Lacson told Faustino.

Again, the BuCor official cited another “communication,” this time supposedly an authority from the Justice department allowing him to release the Taiwanese. Guevarra denied having signed any such authorization.

As it is, all these revelations clearly show grievous procedural and bureaucratic failures of prison officials, in need of someone astute enough to manage them all. Instead what we have is a clueless Faeldon caught not managing anything or anybody at all. He must go.