Gordon peeved that BuCor chief snubbed Senate hearing
Published Mar 4, 2020 12:00 am
By Hannah Torregoza
Senators on Wednesday were disappointed at Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag for snubbing the continuation of the Senate’s investigation into the so-called “ninja cops” and the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.
Senator Richard Gordon
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate justice and human rights committee, said he had expected Bantag to appear at the hearing, so he can provide some information about the killing of BuCor’s top legal chief, Fredric Anthony Santos, who was gunned down by still unidentified assailants in Muntinlupa City last month. “I’m really disappointed with BuCor Director General Bantag. I thought of him very well, I invited him here,” Gordon said during the hearing. “Tao niya ang involved here (One of his men are involved here), so I want him to write a letter to the committee explaining why he is not here. And in the next hearing I expect him to be here,” Gordon stressed. At the height of the alleged “GCTA-for sale” controversy last year, BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon testified in the Senate together with other officials of the BuCor, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and New Bilibid Prison (NBP). President Duterte eventually fired Faeldon over the GCTA mess and named Bantag as the new BuCor chief. Convicts as assassins Gordon also said he believes insiders within the bureau and even the NBP are aware of the existence of inmates being used as assassins—or prisoners who are being brought out of detention to carry out a murder project. Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson echoed Gordon’s sentiments and stressed the need to resolve the problem involving the capacity of convicts to commit crimes. “This is a modus operandi, that’s the perfect alibi, physical impossibility. How can he commit a crime outside the prison’s area if he has no record that he was outside. So that is a perfect defense for him,” Lacson pointed out at the hearing. What is also unacceptable, he said, is the fact that prison officials themselves are scared of the convicts. “Even former Director (Franklin) Bucayu confided that he wants to resign because he is also afraid to die. A BuCor director is scared to be killed by a prisoner. That’s too much,” Lacson said. Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief said, reminded cops to observe the two-pronged approach against criminality, crime prevention and crime suppression. “You have to approach the problem two ways. One is prevention, one is suppression. One is equally important as the other. If suppression fails, you cannot resolve the issue of criminality,” Lacson told PNP officials at the hearing. He also stressed the need to solve high-profile crimes swiftly to avoid the perception of inefficiency. “High profile (cases) napaguusapan yan eh (they are favorite topics of discussion). So you have to exert focused effort to resolve. Otherwise, the perception is that despite a higher crime solution efficiency, the perception is that cops are still inefficient,” Lacson stressed.
Senator Richard Gordon(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate justice and human rights committee, said he had expected Bantag to appear at the hearing, so he can provide some information about the killing of BuCor’s top legal chief, Fredric Anthony Santos, who was gunned down by still unidentified assailants in Muntinlupa City last month. “I’m really disappointed with BuCor Director General Bantag. I thought of him very well, I invited him here,” Gordon said during the hearing. “Tao niya ang involved here (One of his men are involved here), so I want him to write a letter to the committee explaining why he is not here. And in the next hearing I expect him to be here,” Gordon stressed. At the height of the alleged “GCTA-for sale” controversy last year, BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon testified in the Senate together with other officials of the BuCor, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and New Bilibid Prison (NBP). President Duterte eventually fired Faeldon over the GCTA mess and named Bantag as the new BuCor chief. Convicts as assassins Gordon also said he believes insiders within the bureau and even the NBP are aware of the existence of inmates being used as assassins—or prisoners who are being brought out of detention to carry out a murder project. Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson echoed Gordon’s sentiments and stressed the need to resolve the problem involving the capacity of convicts to commit crimes. “This is a modus operandi, that’s the perfect alibi, physical impossibility. How can he commit a crime outside the prison’s area if he has no record that he was outside. So that is a perfect defense for him,” Lacson pointed out at the hearing. What is also unacceptable, he said, is the fact that prison officials themselves are scared of the convicts. “Even former Director (Franklin) Bucayu confided that he wants to resign because he is also afraid to die. A BuCor director is scared to be killed by a prisoner. That’s too much,” Lacson said. Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief said, reminded cops to observe the two-pronged approach against criminality, crime prevention and crime suppression. “You have to approach the problem two ways. One is prevention, one is suppression. One is equally important as the other. If suppression fails, you cannot resolve the issue of criminality,” Lacson told PNP officials at the hearing. He also stressed the need to solve high-profile crimes swiftly to avoid the perception of inefficiency. “High profile (cases) napaguusapan yan eh (they are favorite topics of discussion). So you have to exert focused effort to resolve. Otherwise, the perception is that despite a higher crime solution efficiency, the perception is that cops are still inefficient,” Lacson stressed.