Punish the accountable

IN JAPAN, the least that an official will do if he or she is accused of corruption is to resign from his or her position, especially if it is in government.

In the Philippines, on the other hand, some of those who are facing charges for corruption have the gall –and they get elected- of even running for office using as pretext the presumption of innocence.

Officials of the Bureau of Corrections, headed by Nicanor Faeldon, have been accused of releasing some convicts by using the Good Conduct Time Allowance law even if provisions of the same law prevent the agency from doing so.

The controversy started when the news on the supposed release of Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez came about and was met with a massive objection, including that of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, as quoted by Senator Christopher Lawrence Go.

Based on recent reports, those accused of heinous crimes, including killers and illegal drug lords, were among those allowed to walk out of their prison cells by using the law as an instrument in sneaking them out.

Faeldon and other officials may deny their responsibility for this equally heinous action, if true, but they cannot run from the fact that they practically run the detention cells.

By the way, this is not the first time for Faeldon to be accused of malfeasance. Remember the issue on shabu which resulted in him, then as head of the Bureau of Customs, getting detained at the Senate for a few days?

The national government must get into the bottom of the issue. If Faeldon and others come out clean, the people will respect them. Otherwise, they must be made to face the consequences of their actions.