“(NICANOR) Faeldon, resign! You should be ashamed of what you have done! You have released criminals!”
If he refuses to step down, Thelma Chiong wants President Rodrigo Duterte to sack the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director after three of the seven men convicted of the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of her daughters Marijoy and Jacqueline in 1997 were released.
Should it be proven that Faeldon had any part in setting Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño free, he should step down, Chiong said.
“Duterte has to discipline his officials. He should dismiss Faeldon. This is injustice for the victim. So, he (Duterte) was not aware that these BuCor officials are corrupt?” she told SunStar Cebu.
CNN Philippines reported on Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, that it had obtained copies of the release orders of Aznar, Balansag and Caño.
They were released on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA), a provision in the amended Revised Penal Code (RPC) which shortens jail time for good behavior.
The release orders, dated Aug. 16, 2019, said the three had served 40 years upon retroactive application of Republic Act (RA) 10592.
The three convicts, according to the documents, were “certified to have no other legal cause to be further detained” and “shall be released from confinement.”
However, retired Regional Trial Court Judge Meinrado Paredes found their release “illegal, improper and irregular.”
He quoted Section 1 of RA 10592, which excludes “recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes” from coverage of the law.
He said the charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, for which the Chiong 7 were convicted, fall under heinous or barbaric crimes.
He also said if it is verified that Aznar, Balansag and Caño were released from detention, the one who released them must be held liable.
Quoting the penal clause of the amending law of the Revised Penal Code, Paredes said a penalty of one year imprisonment, a fine of P100,000 and perpetual disqualification to hold office shall be imposed against any public officer or employee who violates the law.
As stated in RA 10592, only the director of the BuCor, the chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and/or the warden of a provincial, district, municipal or city jail can grant allowances for good conduct.
The allowances, once granted, shall not be revoked, the law further states.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, in a radio interview on Friday, Aug. 30, confirmed that the BuCor had issued release orders for Aznar, Balansag and Caño.
In an interview over radio dzBB, Lacson said a certain “Marquez” had signed the order, not Faeldon. Faeldon also denied signing the documents.
Paredes said, whenever lawfully justified, the complainant may file civil, criminal and administrative cases against the liable. But Chiong expressed no interest in doing so.
“I’m too old for this. We are very tired already. It took us so many years to move on. It’s hard for the victim to accept anything that’s (unfavorable), most especially (that) we trust the government,” she said. “There’s no point in challenging Faeldon to present them (Aznar, Balansag and Caño) in public. It’s true. Even Lacson knows the truth of who ordered the release, so even Faeldon knows that.”
Marijoy and Jacqueline were kidnapped outside the Ayala Center Cebu Mall on the night of July 16, 1997.
Marijoy was found dead two days later. Her body was dumped at the bottom of a ravine in Carcar City, Cebu.
Jacqueline’s body has never been found.
The four other men convicted in the Chiong csae were Francisco Juan Larrañaga, Rowen Adlawan, James Anthony Uy and his older brother James Andrew. (WBS)