Press Release
September 5, 2019

Drilon says charges must be filed against Faeldon

Charges must be filed against sacked Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon for his incompetence and for lying to evade accountability over the botched early release of convicted rapist-murder Antonio Sanchez, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday.

"Faedon was caught lying through his teeth. He tried to deceive the Senate and the public. He lied over and over again to evade accountability," Drilon said.

"His name has become synonymous with incompetence. His actions clearly exhibited gross inexcusable negligence and willful misconduct, if not corruption," Drilon said.

Drilon said this as he expressed full support for the President's decision to fire Faeldon amidst the controversy on the release of heinous crime convicts and the botched release of Sanchez, which was halted following strong public outrcy.

"The President's decision confirmed what the public already knew: that Faeldon lied and weaved alibis under oath to exculpate himself," he said.

Faeldon deliberately displayed gross ignorance of the law when he allowed the release of heinous crime convicts, including convicts in the Chiong sisters rape-slay, and approved the release of Sanchez despite the fact that it is contrary to the law and the former mayor violated prison rules, Drilon explained.

Drilon said Faeldon lied about stopping the early release of Sanchez, when, in fact, he admitted under oath that he signed a memorandum order for Sanchez's early release despite the latter having been convicted of heinous crime.

The former justice secretary also castigated Faeldon for his attempts to wash his hands on the controversy, when it was clear that that it was he who ordered the release of Sanchez and a thousand more heinous crime convicts.

Faeldon also could not explain why the violations committed by Sanchez in prison were not recorded in his carpeta, he added.

"It is very surprising that despite the publicly documented infractions committed by Sanchez while in prison, inlcuding the drug bust and his extravagant life in his prison cell, his carpeta did not record any violation," Drilon said.

Drilon urged the committees to look into this, adding that "appropriate charges must be recommended."

"The committees should study possible cases against Faeldon for his temerity to lie. He took an oath and, yet, all he did was to conceal the truth. He seemed to have never learned his lesson," Drilon said.

The minority leader said that given Faeldon's poor public service record, he should not be given a new post in government.

"Such a shady and dubious character is the reason why the government's war against corruption in the bureaucracy fails," he added.

Faeldon headed the Bureau of Customs but was forced to resign at the height of the controversy involving the shipment of billions worth of shabu. He was reappointed to the Office of Civil Defense before heading the BuCor in 2018.

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