Duterte: Faeldon stays at Customs

MANILA, Philippines - Summoned to Malacañang while being grilled by congressmen on the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling issue, Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon emerged two hours later from a meeting with President Duterte with his job intact.

In a statement released by Malacañang, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Faeldon still enjoys the trust and confidence of the Chief Executive and thus is allowed to keep his job as Customs chief. Some lawmakers had demanded Faeldon’s resignation.

“The President has met Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon this afternoon. The Chief Executive has expressed his full confidence in Commissioner Faeldon and told him to focus on serving the country,” Dominguez said.

Faeldon was called to Malacañang yesterday afternoon while he was attending a House of Representatives probe on the entry into the country from China of billions worth of shabu through the Port of Manila.

When confronted by lawmakers during the hearing if he was ready to submit a resignation letter to the President, Faeldon said he would not resign as he is a soldier with a mission. 

But he stressed the President could always fire him.

On Monday, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Meynard Guevara said the President did not intend to meddle in Congress’ investigation of the drug smuggling issue.

Interviewed on the sidelines of the Senate probe on Monday, Faeldon said he had urged the President to conduct a probe on the entry of shabu from China through the Port of Manila.

He revealed having sent a letter to the President informing him of the need for the Palace to conduct its own investigation.

“So, maybe… It may be more prudent that such congressional investigation going on be conducted first,” Guevarra said.

Duterte’s summoning Faeldon was apparently triggered by revelations that supposed printing machines containing some 600 kilos of shabu went through BOC’s green lane, reserved for least suspicious inbound shipments, in May. Security checks on red and yellow lanes are stricter.

The drug shipment was eventually found in a warehouse in Valenzuela City.

The discovery prompted lawmakers to initiate investigations and called for the resignation of Faeldon, a former soldier.

Based on their testimonies at the House hearing yesterday, it appeared that Customs officials were not very familiar with the law and the rules on illegal drugs.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency regional director for Metro Manila Wilkins Villanueva told the House committee on dangerous drugs chaired by Rep. Robert Ace Barber that when Customs summoned them to the Valenzuela City warehouse where the illegal drugs were discovered on May 26, he was disappointed to find out that the “contraband was already spread all over the place.”

“They did not wait for us. They tampered with the evidence. They even had selfies with it. That’s not how you handle evidence. They bungled it.”

He said he and PDEA director general Isidro Lapeña briefed congressmen behind closed doors on their version of what happened.

Villanueva suggested that they fix the errors committed by Customs agents “by conducting a controlled delivery so that we can apprehend all those involved, including possibly the end-users, and use the shabu shipment as evidence.”

He said Customs intelligence chief Neil Estrella, who led the raid on the Valenzuela City warehouse, agreed to his proposal but Faeldon wanted the controlled delivery to involve only one metal cylinder containing about 100 kilos of shabu.

“We failed to convince the commissioner,” Villanueva lamented.

He said the Customs commissioner spoke several times to a female companion who is a lawyer and who, he claimed, advised Faeldon to stand his ground.

Faeldon explained that he insisted on having the remaining four cylinders with 500 kilos of shabu to remain in the warehouse as evidence against its alleged owner, a certain Richard Tan.

“For me, the owner of the warehouse is the principal suspect, but they did not want to include him in the charges,” he said.

When asked by Barbers if he has already filed charges against Tan, Faeldon said the case is still with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to which they turned over the 500 kilos of illegal drugs.

The remaining 100 kilos is with the PDEA, he said.

Alvarez asked Faeldon “who is that imbecile lawyer you consulted.”

The Customs chief responded that it was his fiancée who is a private citizen.

Congressmen chided him for listening to his girlfriend, instead of to PDEA officers.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas told Faeldon and his underlings that under the law, it is the PDEA that is the lead agency when it comes to anti-drug operations. It is also the PDEA that is the custodian of seized illegal drugs, he said.

Fariñas said the law provides for a strict “chain of custody of evidence that should not be broken” for a case to prosper.

He also said Customs could not just raid a warehouse it suspects could be holding smuggled goods. “You have to go to court and get a search warrant,” he added.

In calling for Faeldon’s resignation, Barbers said the Customs chief has embarrassed Duterte by letting the P6.4-billion drug shipment get past the Manila port.

Support from employees

Meanwhile, the embattled Customs chief has reportedly turned to 3,000 BOC employees for support and has even asked them to post his image in their social media accounts.

He reportedly asked Customs employees to like his photograph with the message “If this is the price of reforming the bureau of custom, then it is all worth it.”

Accompanying the photo was a message: “Please make this your profile picture as support for our fight against corruption. This is a protest to all the detractors of the reforms. Please share to all your friends. Thank you. Tuloy lang po ang reporma sa bureau of Customs.”

The BOC Public Information and Assistance Desk (PIAD) said the request was only sent out yesterday.

It clarified that Faeldon’s appeal was not compulsory and that the employees were not required to comply with it.

Anderson clarified late yesterday afternoon that it was not Faeldon who made the request. “It is a form of peaceful initiative from his staff supporting the reforms in the bureau.”

The message was only sent out to friends, family and supporters and they were not being forced to follow.

But a Customs employee said that there were emails being sent to employees, even to those assigned in the provinces, telling them to comply with the Commissioner’s request.

BOC Employees’ Union president Remedios Princesa, assigned at the Port of Manila, said that she was not aware of any request from Faeldon. – With  Jess Diaz