THE former chief of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) asked for the transfer of some P1 billion allocated for the rehabilitation of five prison facilities to the Sablayan Penal Colony in Mindoro Occidental were Nicanor Faeldon reportedly intended to run for governor in the elections last May.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara. finance committee chair, said Faeldon wrote a letter to his committee before months before the May elections requesting the realignment of the P1 billion originally intended for the rehabilitation of the penal colonies in Davao, Palawan, Leyte, and Zamboanga, and the Women’s Correctional.
“We told him it is not proper for the committee to do that because it is already part of the GAA (General Appropriations Act of 2019)… to realign that item you would need an amendment of the law. That was our response,” Angara said during the deliberations on the justice department’s proposed budget for 2020.
He said Faeldon’s request delayed the release of the P1-billion rehabilitation fund.
Faeldon was sacked by President Duterte in August this year amid controversy arising from the release of heinous crimes convicts for good behavior.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said there was “nothing illegal” with the request for realignment “but at that time before the last election, we heard that he was interested in running for an election post in Mindoro.”
