Duterte defends appointment of new BuCor chief Gerald Bantag

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday defended his appointment of Gerald Bantag as the new chief of the Bureau of Corrections despite the criminal charges against him.

Bantag had been charged with murder over the death of 10 inmates following an explosion at the Parañaque City Jail in August 2016 when he was still its warden.

“Since there is no conviction yet, in obedience to the rule of presumption of innocence I gave him a new job,” Duterte told reporters in Malacañang.

“I don’t think that he did it [explosion]. If he did, then baka ma-convict siya. But in the meantime gusto ko siya kasi nagtatapon ng granada.”

As for his marching orders, Duterte said Bantag should make sure that convicts would not escape.

The President also said the new Bucor director-general should not engage in “things that are obnoxious or repugnant to the public.”

Bantag succeeded Nicanor Faeldon, a former military officer who was fired by Duterte over the early release of heinous crime convicts through Republic Act 10592 or the expanded good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law. — DVM, GMA News