No Christmas, New Year furlough for Faeldon

Unlike former Aegis Juris fraternity head Arvin Balag who was recently released from detention at the Senate, former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon will spend Christmas and New Year at the Senate building.

Faeldon has been detained at the Senate since Sept. 12 after he was cited for contempt for refusing to participate in the hearings of the Blue Ribbon committee on the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu into the country.

He will continue to be detained until he cooperates.

Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia said the relatives and lawyer of Faeldon would still be allowed to visit him just like before.

Balajadia said that his instructions were to limit the number of visitors at any given time because of the small space where Faeldon is confined.

He said the relatives would be allowed to spend time with Faeldon on Christmas and New Year’s Eve but they will not be able to stay overnight.

The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the release of Balag on Dec. 12 from the Senate where he had been detained for contempt for refusing to cooperate in the Senate investigation on the death of University of Sto. Tomas law student Horacio Castillo III in a fraternity hazing.

The SC granted Balag’s petition for immediate release but the justices have yet to rule on Balag’s petition for certiorari that seeks to quash the contempt charges against him by the Senate for not answering questions in the Castillo investigation.

Unlike Balag, Faeldon has not sought for his release from detention in spite of being cleared by the Department of Justice’s panel of prosecutors after their investigation into the smuggling case.

By opting to remain detained, lawyer Jose Diño said Faeldon wanted to send the message that he was incarcerated on the basis of an investigation “in aid of persecution.”

Faeldon said that some senators have already prejudged him as guilty so he has no intention of participating in the hearings.