BuCor chief confirms release of 3 convicts in Chiong sisters rape-slay case

Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon attends the Senate hearing on GCTA law on September 2. INQUIRER.net photo / CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon on Monday confirmed that three of the seven men convicted for the rape and murder of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong have been released under the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

In a joint Senate hearing into the implementation of Republic Act 10592 on the GCTA, Senator Panfilo Lacson asked the BuCor chief if he signed the release orders of Ariel Balansag, Alberto Caño and Josman Aznar.

But Faeldon said he could not remember.

“Because I really do not distinguish that cases,” he said.

Lacson then showed the supposed released orders signed by BuCor official Maria Fe Marquez for Faeldon.

The senator further asked: Have they been released?

Faeldon answered: Yes, your honor.

“Yung unang release order kay Sanchez, na-preempt lang because of public uproar. But in this [Chiong rape-slay convicts] case, this one got away,” Lacson said.

This as the senator noted that the release orders of the convicts in the Chiong sisters rape-slay were issued four days before the supposed release order for convicted rapist and murderer former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez.

“What makes the difference between the release order signed for you by Maria Fe Marquez and the release order signed by you in favor of Antonio Sanchez?” Lacson further asked.

Sanchez’s impending release prompted calls for a Senate probe into the implementation of the GCTA law.

Sanchez was convicted and sentenced to seven life imprisonments for the brutal killing of two University of the Philippines-Los Baños students in 1993.

But following public outcry over Sanchez’s possible release, Guevarra has since suspended the processing of the early release for good conduct of the said inmates. /jpv