Duterte appoints ex-Manila jail warden Gerald Bantag as BuCor chief

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed the replacement of dismissed Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Gerald Bantag, currently the regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Mimaropa, was appointed as BuCor director general “based on his professional competence and honesty.”

Bantag also previously served as warden of the Manila City Jail and Parañaque City Jail.

“The Palace is behind the President's decision and is confident that DG Bantag will continue the administration’s campaign against corruption as he spearheads reform initiatives in the bureau,” Panelo said.

Faeldon got the axe on September 3 as Duterte said the former BuCor chief disobeyed his instruction to halt the release of heinous crime convicts through the expanded good conduct time allowance law.

Duterte, however, said days later that Faeldon was an “upright man” and that he still believed in him.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, whose department has administrative supervision over the BuCor, said the president has "total discretion and absolute prerogative" in making the appointment and is not required to consult him.

"I'm sure the president has good reasons for appointing Gerald Bantag as the new BuCor chief," Guevarra told reporters in a message.

He said he has not yet met Bantag.

Controversial stint

Bantag’s stint as Manila City Jail warden was controversial as inmates opposed in October 2016 the segregation or reclassification of drug offenders in the jail that houses thousands of detainees.

The BJMP defended Bantag’s policy at the time, arguing the purpose of the segregation was to give the drug offenders proper interventions such as therapy programs, physical fitness programs, counseling and spiritual enhancement activities.

In August 2016, Bantag was relieved from his post as warden of the Parañaque City Jail following an explosion that left 10 inmates dead.

The explosion happened as inmates had reportedly asked for a meeting with Bantag after learning that they were to be moved to another cell.

Bantag had sustained injuries from the blast.—LDF/NB, GMA News