Catapang next permanent BuCor chief
FORMER Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gregorio Catapang Jr. is set to be appointed as permanent Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief, succeeding Gerald Bantag, who was twice suspended over the Lapid-Villamor slays and for allowing the media interview of retired military general Jovito Palparan.
“Of course, replacement na. He (Bantag) will be replaced already as a BuCor director. It is within the power of the President,” Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a chance interview.
When Remulla was asked why it took a couple of months to decide Bantag’s replacement, the former Cavite solon has this to say:
“Ganun talaga eh. We are not in the business of just replacing people just like that. We have to study everything, and we have to wait for the developments to come in for us to really be sure of what we are doing. Basta kelangan natin pag-aralan yan,” Remulla said.
For his part, Catapang vowed to implement the reforms needed for the country’s Corrections system.
“Of course nagpapasalamat ako sa mahal na Pangulo na sa pagtiwala nya sa atin. Alam naman po ng ating mga tao dito na talaga pong trabaho lang po ang pinunta ko dito at yun nga po, may mga reforms pa po na hindi pa tapos… Sa ngayon mga stop gap measures lang muna pero marami na tayong nagawa for the last three months,” Catapang said.
When asked when he got informed of his appointment as BuCor chief, Catapang said: “Ngayon lang po.”
Last week, Bantag was slapped with another 90-day preventive suspension for authorizing the SMNI Network to interview Palparan, who was serving time after being convicted for the kidnapping of two University of the Philippines (UP) students in 2006.
Bantag’s newest suspension was contained in Department Order No. 010, dated January 17, 2023, and signed by Remulla.
The order said that Bantag’s suspension is “to prevent him [from] exerting undue influence or pressure on the witnesses…” while the administrative investigation into the incident involving the Palparan interview is ongoing.
Bantag was previously suspended over the mystery-shrouded death of middleman Jun Villamor in the Percy Lapid slay case.
Villamor supposedly relayed the kill order to self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial.
