Pacquiao tells Faeldon to take leave of absence

Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao yesterday strongly advised Bu­reau of Corrections (BuCor) di­rector Nicanor Faeldon to go on a leave of absence and spare President Duterte’s administra­tion from embarrassment.

“Besides, the President is un­necessarily dragged into this whole mess being the appointing authority. If Undersecretary Fael­don truly respects the president, he must do the right thing. I’m pretty sure everything will work out for him in the end,” Pacquiao said.

Although he described him as a ‘’good man,’’ Pacquiao said Fa­eldon should take a leave while facing probe on allegations of favoritism and corruption in the commutation of stiff sentences of several convicts, including for­mer Calauan (Laguna) Mayor An­tonio Sanchez and Chinese drug lords.

Senators are investigating Fael­don and other prison officials for their alleged abuse on the applica­tion of Republic Act 10592 which grants early release of prisoners on the basis of so-called Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) or good behavior.

They said those who were con­victed of heinous crimes must not be pardoned under the GCTA law.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said Faeldon is clearly lying when he (Faeldon) denied granted parole to Sanchez by stating that he only signed a memorandum of release but the actual release was done by the prison superintendent.

Although Pacquiao said he still fully believes in the integrity and honesty of Faeldon but the rag­ing controversy on the release of hardcore convicts like Sanchez demands his full and undivided attention especially in attend­ing ongoing investigations by the Senate and the House of Repre­sentatives.

Pacquiao said that Faeldon needs to show that he is ready and willing to help Congress in getting into the bottom of this controversy.

“I know that Undersecretary Faeldon is a good man and has served his country well but I re­ally think that he can spare the president and this administration from embarrassment by taking a leave-of-absence,’’ he said.

Pacquiao also noted that while he is very clear in his position that it was really wrong to release Sanchez and all other criminals convicted of heinous crimes, he believes that the “GCTA-for-sale” claims are just too fantastic and clearly exaggerated.

“Sa ngayon, kwentong bar­bero lang yang GCTA-for-sale na sinasabi nila dahil wala pa naman silang maipakitang ebidensiya,” Pacquiao said.

Nonetheless, Pacquiao said that this controversy should provide Congress the best reason to se­riously consider the re-imposition of the death penalty.

Pacquiao said that with the death penalty, criminals like San­chez are quickly and justly pun­ished and would-be criminals would think twice before commit­ting a crime.

“This GCTA law should be re­viewed and should only cover pet­ty crimes. On the other hand, this controversy should already serve as a wake-up call for Congress to finally approve re-imposition of death penalty on certain heinous crimes,” he added. (Mario Casayuran)