MANILA – Nicanor Faeldon accepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to fire him as the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general in light of the release of several heinous crimes convicts on the basis of the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.
Hours after Duterte ordered his resignation, Faeldon on Wednesday said he will follow the president’s decision “without any hard feelings.”
“My commander-in-chief/appointing authority has spoken. I am a marine and a marine does as he is told,” Faeldon said. “I most humbly bow to commander-in-chief’s order without any hard feelings.”
Duterte ordered Faeldon’s resignation amid a controversy involving the early release of nearly 2,000 people convicted of and imprisoned for heinous crimes.
According to Duterte, he demanded Faeldon’s resignation for “disobeying” his order that no convict should be released until further orders by higher authorities.
Several senators hailed Duterte’s decision following the controversies hounding Faeldon in each government position he was assigned.
“Panalo ito ng mga taumbayang handang ipaglaban ang tama. Kung hindi nagpakita ng galit ang taumbayan, malamang nakalaya na si Sanchez at marami pang iba. Patunay ito na makapangyarihan ang taumbayang tumataya at naninindigan para sa katarungan,” Sen. Francis Pangilinan said.
“Dapat magsilbing aral ito sa administrasyon na kapag tinanggal ang nasasangkot sa anomalya, kinakasuhan ito at hindi nililipat sa ibang ahensya para magkalat ulit ng kapalpakan,” he added.
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri described Duterte’s decision as “a timely action.”
“Within just a few days, Faeldon has been exposed as having consciously applied the GCTA erroneously for the benefit of heinous crime convict Mayor Antonio Sanchez,” Zubiri said.
“The Senate gave him all the opportunity to cooperate and tell the truth. He didn’t take his fair chance. I think we gave him fair treatment. He deserves to be removed from the BuCor,” he added.
Before heading the BuCor, Faeldon served as deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, a post he got appointed to months after he resigned from the Bureau of Customs following the controversy surrounding the smuggling of billions of pesos worth of shabu from China./PN
