De Lima says Faeldon’s appointment meant to sustain pressure on her

SENATOR Leila M. De Lima on Wednesday claimed that the appointment of former Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Deputy Administrator Nicanor E. Faeldon as Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief was meant to ensure that National Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates will continue to testify in drug cases filed against her.
“The recycled appointment of former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon to the BuCor after the resignation of Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa is just another step in ensuring that the NBP inmates being used against me continue to be coddled and given special treatment, or pressured and threatened, at least until they finish falsely testifying against me,” she said in a statement.
The senator pointed out that those who had persecuted her in the past “were all discarded” by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, instead of being rewarded.
“All those who continue to pursue this persecution should take a lesson from those who came before them. If they think they will be rewarded by Duterte at the end, they only have to look at what happened to Aguirre, Alvarez, Fariñas, Umali and Roque. Duterte discarded these ambitious sycophants as easily as he had used them, as soon as they had served their purpose,” she said of the President’s associates and political allies.
“There can be no reward in doing injustice to innocent people. In the end, trust and justice will always catch up,” she added.
Mr. Faeldon was appointed to the BuCor after his predecessor Ronald M. Dela Rosa filed his senatorial candidacy last Friday, Oct. 12. Prior to his post in the OCD, Mr. Faeldon was Bureau of Customs (BoC) chief.
Ms. De Lima was detained on February 2017 for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trading at the NBP when she was justice secretary. But according to her supporters, including some in the international community, Ms. De Lima is a victim of political harassment by the Duterte administration. — Camille A. Aguinaldo