DoJ takes over BuCor control

An interim oversight committee was placed in charge of the administrative supervision of BuCor

DoJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra orders GTCA records to be preserved.

To secure records related to the scandal created by prisoner releases through the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law, the Department of Justice (DoJ) placed the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under its direct control.

The DoJ has assigned an interim oversight committee in charge of the administrative supervision of BuCor, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

Through Department Order 469, Guevarra designated Undersecretary Deo Marco and Assistant Secretaries Neal Vincent Bainto and George Ortha II as members of the committee which was “created to exercise close administrative supervision over the BuCor until such time that a new director-general for the BuCor has been appointed by the President.�?

The order took effect immediately and shall remain in full force until further orders.

In a separate Department Order 468, also issued Friday, Guevarra designated Assistant Secretary Melvin Ramon Buenafe as officer-in-charge of BuCor.

“In addition to administering the day-to-day affairs of the BuCor, OIC director general Buenafe is further authorized… to effect permissible movements of BuCor personnel,�? the order said.

Buenafe is tasked “to adopt strict measures to ensure the integrity and proper safekeeping of official records, particularly records of GCTA and other similar time credits.�?

He was also directed to “take appropriate steps for the formal revocation of release orders improvidently issued and for the recommitment of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) erroneously released from prison.�?

Two of three convicts in the Chiong sisters rape-slay case in Cebu, moreover, have voluntarily surrendered to authorities, according to the DoJ.

This came after the government’s pronouncements that those convicted with heinous crimes are not covered by the GCTA Law.

“Two PDL in the Chiong case have surrendered. A third (PDL) is expected next week,�? Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

He said Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño “surrendered to the BuCor Friday.�?

During the Senate inquiry last week into the GCTA controversy, Sen. Panfilo Lacson asked if among those who had been erroneously released by sacked BuCor director general Nicanor Faeldon were three persons convicted for the rape and murder of the Chiong sisters.

The orders Lacson showed was signed for Faeldon by Corrections Technical Chief Supt. Maria Fe Marquez for the release of Balansag, Caño and Josman Aznar.

The three were among the so-called Chiong Seven, who were found guilty by the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 7 in 1999 for the abduction of sisters Jacquelyn and Marijoy Chiong on 16 July 1997.

Aside from the three, Francisco Juan Larrañaga alias “Paco�?; Rowen Adlawan alias “Wesley�?; Alberto Caño alias “Allan Pahak�?; Davidson Ariel Rusia alias “Tisoy Tagalog�?; James Anthony Uy alias “Wangwang�? and James Andrew Uy alias “MM�? were also charged for the crime.

Larrañaga, who was of Spanish descent, was subsequently allowed to continue serving his sentence in Spain under an agreement between the Philippines and Spanish governments regarding citizens of dual citizenship.

The prosecution largely depended on the testimony of Rusia, who has previous convictions for burglary and forgery and would later turn state witness 10 months after the incident.

Rusia testified that he was with Larrañaga in Cebu on the night of the incident, even as the defense presented 35 witnesses that Paco was in Quezon City in a culinary school class.

The government has halted the release of prisoners under Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA Law following reports that some ineligible prisoners had been granted relief under its provisions.

President Rodrigo Duterte has given those erroneously released 15 days to voluntarily surrender to authorities.

The President’s spokesman and chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo also chided Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon over his remarks that the Palace official used his office to put pressure on penal officials to act in favor of a formal client.

Drilon recently said that Panelo using the official letterhead of the Office of the Legal Counsel for the referral letter he sent to the Board of Pardons and Parole regarding convicted murder-rapist Antonio Sanchez’s application for executive clemency may have given a “perception of power.�?

Panelo, however, refuted Drilon and insisted that he merely heeded a directive issued by the Office of the President to act on every request regardless of who it’s from.

“Mere referral letters on public concerns to agencies require the use of the Malacañang office letterhead,�? Panelo said in a statement.

“We take note of the comments of Senator Franklin Dillon, but we assume that the good senator knows that official correspondence to a government office requires nothing less than an official response thereto and an official action thereon. Even mere referral letters on public concerns to agencies with appropriate jurisdiction over the matter require the use of the office’s official letterhead,�? he added.