Suspended BuCor legal chief gunned down outside Bilibid

The chief of the legal division of the Bureau of Corrections was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon a few meters away from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Atty. Fredric Anthony Santos was on board his pick-up when he was gunned down in front of a school in Barangay Poblacion, some 100 meters away from the main gate of NBP.

Santos’ son Alfonso said he was not aware of any threats to his father’s life.

“Wala po akong alam [na banta]... Sinundo lang po ‘yung ano, kapatid ko pong bata,” he said in a 24 Oras report by Ian Cruz.

Santos was suspended by the Ombudsman in September in connection with the controversy over the alleged misapplication of the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law.

This resulted in the release of the at least 500 convicts, including those sentenced for the killing of the Chiong sisters in the late 1990s.

Former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, convicted for the rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of Allan Sanchez in 1993, was also almost freed due to the GCTA controversy.

Bureau of Corrections legal officer Frederick Anthony Santos lies slumped inside his pick-up truck on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, after he was gunned down a few meters away from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. John Consulta

Muntinlupa Police chief Colonel Hermogenes Cabe said they will investigate Santos’ links to the GCTA mess as a possible motive of the crime.

“'Yun ang isang bagay na tinitingnan namin ngayon kaso we don't want to speculate nga,” he said.

According to the Southern Police District (SPD), Santos was about to fetch his daughter from Southernside Montessori School along Katihan Street when two unidentified suspects shot him.

The suspects were able to escape, police said.

Police said the victim sustained gunshot wounds. He was declared dead by the Muntinlupa Rescue Team.

Authorities launched hot pursuit operations against the perpetrators of the crime. 

Santos was placed on preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman for six months over alleged anomalies in the grant of good conduct time allowances (GCTA) to prisoners.

Aside from Santos, Maria Fe Marquez, superintendent of the Correctional Institution for Women and Joel Nalva, correctional officer of Bucor were also suspended.

On August 27, 2019, Ruperto Traya, the BuCor official who was in charge of safekeeping GCTA documents, was also shot dead in Muntinlupa.

Police said Traya was about to open the gate of his rented parking lot when an unidentified gunman appeared and shot him on the head.

The Muntinlupa Police earlier denied that the slay of Traya was connected to the GCTA controversy. —with Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/KG/NB/LDF, GMA News