THE Office of the Ombudsman has placed 27 officials and personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under preventive suspension for six months without pay amid the investigation into the alleged anomalous release of heinous crime convicts based on good conduct.
Their suspension takes effect immediately, Ombudsman Samuel Martires stated in the order that he signed Monday, September 9, 2019.
The 27 BuCor officials and personnel are charged with grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service.
Such offenses may lead to their removal from service.
The suspension order was issued three days after Yolanda Camilon, common-law wife of minimum security inmate Godfrey Gamboa, testified before the Senate committee on justice that the grant of good conduct time allowance (GCTA) is for sale at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
READ: Bilibid inmate’s wife says ‘GCTA for sale’ scheme exists
Leading the list of BuCor personnel who are suspended is CTSO2 Ramoncito Roque, officer-in-charge of the Inmate Documents and Processing Section.
Camilon had accused him of receiving from her P10,000 cash as downpayment for the early release of her husband.
High-ranking BuCor officials who were suspended include Chief Superintendent (Brigadier General) Gerardo Padilla, chief NBP superintendent; Correction Senior Superintendent (CSSupt./Colonel) Celso Bravo, officer in charge of the Directorate for Security and Operations; CSSupt. (Col.) Melencio Faustino, regional superintendent of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm; and CSSupt. (Col.) Wilfredo Bayona, deputy superintendent of the New Bilibid Prison South Maximum Security Compound.
Also suspended are Correction Senior Inspector (Captain) Maribel Bancil, whom Camilon accused of approaching her and offering her a way to facilitate her husband’s early release in exchange for P50,000, and custodial officer Veronica Buño, who was allegedly tasked to follow up on the payment.
Others suspended are Chief Inspector (Major) Benjamin Barrios, PSH Francisco Abunales, CTO3 Cherry Caliston, Ruelito Pulmano, CInsp. (Major) Emerita Aguilar, CInsp. (Major) Raymund Peneyra, CO1 Jomar Coria, CInsp. (Major) Roy Vivo, CO3 John Edward Basi, CInsp. (Major) Abel Ciruela, CInsp. (Major) Roger Boncales, PGH Eduardo Cabuhat, Dr. Ma. Lourdes Razon, Mary Lou Arbatin, Susana Ortega, PGH1 Anthony Omega, PGH Antonio Calumpit, Police Superintendent (Lt. Col.) Roberto Rabo, CInsp. (Major) Jones Lanuza, and CSO1 Victor de Monteverde.
Assistant Secretary and Deputy Director General Melvin Ramon G. Buenafe, who was designated on September 6, 2019 as officer-in-charge of BuCor, is not on the list.
In his order, Martires said the 27 BuCor officials and personnel are charged with allowing the questionable release of heinous crime convicts based on good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
This is in violation of Republic Act 10592, which provides that persons convicted of heinous crime are not qualified to avail of GCTA.
Martires said the evidence against the BuCor officials, through testimonies of witnesses and public documents, “appear to be strong”.
GCTA is granted on a monthly basis to persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who shows good behavior in a month. The GCTA is credited against the PDL’s prison term, making an early release from prison possible.
The law does not cover heinous crime convicts. But the implementing rules and regulations allow heinous crime convicts to avail of this time allowance.
A total of 1,914 heinous crime convicts have been released based on GCTA, including about 200 whose applications were processed after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2019 in favor of the law’s retroactive effectivity.
The GCTA scheme created a public uproar following reports on the release of heinous crime convicts.
President Rodrigo Duterte has fired BuCor director general Nicanor Faeldon and ordered all released heinous crime convicts to surrender and return to jail for the recomputation of their GCTA.
The Senate Blue Ribbon and justice committees are spearheading the conduct of a hearing into the irregularities in the granting and processing of GCTA.
A joint committee of the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior and Local Government, meanwhile, is reviewing the implementing rules and regulations of the law. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)