Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag yesterday skipped the resumption of the Senate investigation into the so-called “ninja cops” and the Good Conduct Time Allowance law.
Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee, was disappointed at Bantag for his absence.
Gordon said he had expected Bantag to appear at the hearing, so he can shed light and provide some information about the killing of BuCor’s top legal chief, Fredric Anthony Santos, 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, 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.
Santos had earlier testified at the Senate at the height of the alleged “GCTA-for sale” controversy, alongside former BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon.
Both of them, along with other officials of the BuCor, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and New Bilibid Prison officials were asked to testify on the controversial release of high-profile inmates.
President Duterte eventually fired Faeldon over the GCTA mess and named Bantag as the new BuCor chief.
Gordon had earlier expressed belief Santos’ killing was related to the GCTA issue. The senator said the lack of a sense of urgency, lack of professionalism, and complacency is apparent among the BJMP, BuCor, and the NBP in resolving the series of killings involving jail personnel. (Hannah Torregoza)
