No small feat

Running the customs bureau is no small feat.

And as Congress investigates the smuggling and mishandling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through and by the Bureau of Customs, many are starting to realize that Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon is not the man for the job.

Some 605 kilos of shabu entered the country from China last May 23, passing undetected through the green lane in violation of established protocols. As explained, as part of the BOC’s selectivity system, imported products pass through four lanes. Those entering through the green lane no longer undergo inspection and document verification.

The shipment from China, which were in metal cylinders containing shabu in hundreds of plastic bags, was selected to pass through the green lane. Why the BOC allowed the consignee EMT Trading to put the supposed kitchenware shipment on the customs’ green lane has yet to be answered.

But suspended BOC risk management officer Larribert Hilario revealed that on May 22, he tried to request an alert order on the shipment but his request, which would have subjected the shipment to full physical examination, was not acted upon. Legislators have noted that it is already a practice in the BOC that products coming from China must be placed in the red lane category, which would have subjected critical products to two kinds of inspection, including an intrusive one.

The drugs could have been prevented from entering the country right there and then, but the BOC failed to do its job.

Faeldon relieved Hilario after the drugs were seized at a Valenzuela City warehouse during a May 29 raid which was conducted without a proper warrant.

The BOC chief had the shipment opened even before representatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) could arrive, failing to follow strict rules in the chain of custody of seized illegal drugs.

To compound matters, he turned over to PDEA only 100 kilos of the seized shabu and the rest to the National Bureau of Investigation, again in violation of the law.

Lawmakers have raised concern that the failure of Customs to follow procedures would make all the evidence seized inadmissible in court and allow all the suspects to walk away.

Warehouse owner Richard Chen has not been charged and House Rep. Harry Roque suspects Faeldon is protecting Chen, as requested by the customs in China that provided the tip on illegal drugs.

What further raised suspicion of possible collusion of BOC officials with drug smugglers was the creation by Faeldon of a command center with the sole authority to issue alert order. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said it is illegal as it was not supported by a proper administrative order from the Department of Finance.

And then there’s the issue of Faeldon hiring 28 athletes as intelligence agents assigned to the Office of the Commissioner. If Faeldon wanted to improve the image of the customs bureau, fielding basketball and volleyball teams in various leagues is not the answer. All he needed was to do his job.

Even BOC’s tax collection effort languished under his term.

According to Faeldon, as a soldier, he will not abandon his post, but he can be removed by the President. But abandoning his post is different from saving the President from further embarrassment and giving the people public officials that their hard-earned money deserves.

Manhunt on

As the saying goes, the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.

The Department of Justice recently announced that it is set to submit for resolution the P50-million estafa complaint filed by San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC) against its erstwhile business partner, Indonesian businessman Ery Shadik Wahono.

SMHC, through its subsidiaries, engages in the development and construction of road and rail transport projects in the country. SMHC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

During the preliminary investigation, the legal counsel of Wahono submitted their counter affidavit to SMHC’s criminal complaint. SMHC, however, manifested during the hearing that it would no longer file its rejoinder, prompting senior assistant state prosecutor Ma. Emilia Victoria to submit the case of resolution.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has sought the help of the International Police or InterPol in locating Wahono and fellow Indonesian Nadiya Stamboel who have standing warrants of arrest for qualified theft issued by the Marikina City Regional Trial Court.

The NBI has officially requested Interpol National Central Bureau Manila head undersecretary Allan Guisihan for assistance in the issuance of a red notice against Wahono and Stamboel. The request for the issuance of red notice stemmed from SMHC’s complaint with the NBI asking for assistance in having the two Indonesians arrested.

The issuance of a red notice, the NBI explained, would alert all Interpol member-countries in locating the two fugitives for purposes of having them extradited to the Philippines.

Stamboel left the country last May and has not returned since then, while Wahono could not be found at his address in Makati.

Aside from the estafa complaint, Wahono is facing a qualified theft case before the Marikina RTC for making certain unauthorized disbursements from Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC), which was partly owned by SMHC, to create another company called Citra Central Expressway Corp. (CCEC).

Wahono sold P50 million worth of shares of his PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persad (CLGP) in CCEC to the San Miguel Group. But since Wahono used CMMTC funds to bankroll CLPG’s stake in CECC, SMC was duped into buying shares from Wahono that San Miguel already owned.

The Office of the City Prosecutor of Marikina earlier found probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against Wahono and co-accused for qualified theft for which no bail was recommended. But last March, the Marikina RTC Branch 193 dismissed the information for qualified theft for lack of probable cause, claiming that SMHC has no claim of ownership over the P50.25 million and that what Wahono did in transferring money from CMMTC to CCEC was a corporate act that does not constitute qualified theft.

Accused in the Marikina case include Wahono, Stamboel, Alvin Bugtas, and Fema Christina Piramide-Sayson, all CMMTC officers, who allegedly conspired in transferring the funds belonging to CMMTC without the consent of the board and the stockholders to an account not belonging to the company and with intent to gain.

SMHC then filed a motion for reconsideration on April 11, claiming that the court erred in dismissing the case since there is no dispute as to SMHC’s beneficial interest in CMMTC, thus the right to complain against the unlawful taking of company funds.

The court on July 7 reconsidered its finding that there was lack of probable cause after which the warrant of arrest was issued. Bugtas and Piramide-Sayson on July 10 voluntarily surrendered to the NBI and the following day filed their petitions for bail.

Last July 14, Piramide-Sayson and Bugtas refused to enter a plea so the judge entered a plea of not guilty.

The story is still unfolding so let us see how it goes.

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