Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday appointed Bureau of Corrections Deputy Director General Melvin Ramon Buenafe as BuCor officer-in-charge while Malacanang has yet to replace sacked Director General Nicanor Faeldon.
Guevarra issued Department Order No. 468 authorizing Buenafe, subject to applicable laws, rules, and regulations, “to adopt strict measures to ensure the integrity and proper safekeeping of the official records, particularly records of good conduct time allowances and other similar time credits.”
The Justice Secretary also instructed Buenafe “to take appropriate steps for the formal revocation of release orders improvidently issued and for the re-commitment of Persons Deprived of Liberty erroneously released from prison.”
Guevarra cited that the order is pursuant to the verbal directive made by President Duterte during a press conference last Wednesday.
He also issued Department Order No. 469 which created an Interim Oversight Committee over the BuCor. The committee has been tasked 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 committee is composed of Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco and Assistant Secretaries Neal Vincent Bainto and George Ortha II.
Meanwhile, despite firing him due to the controversy surrounding the BuCor, President Duterte said last night that he still believes that Faeldon is an upright man.
Duterte made the statement in a speech in Naga City, Cebu, days after he publicly fired Faeldon following the questionable release of almost 2,000 heinous crimes convicts under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law.
He noted that with Faeldon at the Bureau of Customs, government was able to collect P7 billion from Mighty Corp. after they were busted for using fake stamps.
“Si Faeldon, tarong na nga tawo. I still believe in him,” he said. (Jeffrey Damicog and Argyll Geducos)
