Alleged Paolo bagman denies drug smuggling links

MANILA, Philippines - Davao City Councilor Nilo Abellera, whom Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has accused of being the bagman of presidential son Paolo Duterte, denied any involvement in the smuggling of drugs.

In a letter to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, Abellera also explaining his absence in yesterday’s hearing.

“I hereby state I have no knowledge, let alone any participation (in) the shipment of shabu from China,” Abellera said in a sworn statement sent to the committee.

Abellera said he was not able to attend the hearing as he was still recovering from “hypertensive urgency” and was advised by his doctors to rest for two to four weeks.

Broker Mark Taguba earlier testified that he met Abellera sometime in January last year and gave him P5 million as “enrollment fee” to avail himself of the services of the so-called Davao group’s in facilitating his shipment.

Taguba claimed Abellera, nicknamed “Small,” was the bagman of Davao City Vice Mayor Duterte in helping him facilitate the release of his shipments at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Trillanes also claimed President Duterte’s son-in-law has been seen making the rounds of the BOC conducting smuggling activities.

At the resumption of the Senate committee inquiry, Trillanes said Manases Carpio, husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, was seen at the BOC premises.

Trillanes said Carpio was seen five times at the BOC, based on the reports of his “informants.”

Carpio is a nephew of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

When grilled by Trillanes, former Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service chief Neil Estrella said he once chanced upon Carpio leaving the office of then commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.

Estrella was among the resource persons invited by the Senate committee looking into the smuggling of some P6.4 billion worth of shabu that passed through the express lane of the BOC last May 23.

Estrella was the BOC official who led the raid in two warehouses in Valenzuela City, recovering some 604 kilos of shabu stashed in steel cylinders.

“Mans Carpio has no business being there. They (BOC officials) know that his family is influential so you would not think they just had small talk or chatted about showbiz, right?” Trillanes asked Estrella.

He said Carpio’s supposed visits confirm his allegations that Paolo Duterte was also involved in smuggling. Paolo, he said, visited the BOC at least twice.

Trillanes alleged Carpio’s group charges higher per container to facilitate entry of cargo if the shipper requests that they should not be screened.

He said Carpio’s group charges a “no look fee” to allow the containers to pass through the green lane or without inspection.

Carpio-Morales, for her part, told reporters that she was not privy to her nephew’s business dealings.

“I’m not privy to any moves or any activities or anything that my relatives are into. So I’ve no reaction,” Morales told reporters at the Senate.

She said she was not aware of his “reputation” at the BOC. Morales was attending the Senate hearing on the Office of the Ombudsman’s proposed budget for 2018.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, has issued a subpoena for Faeldon for failing to appear at yesterday’s hearing.

Invoking a treaty

 Gordon meanwhile invoked the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between the Philippines and China to secure the testimonies of Chinese customs officials.

The drug shipment was intercepted on a tip coming from customs officials from Xiamen, China.

Gordon asked Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III to coordinate with the Department of Justice to invoke the MLAT to secure “relevant information and documents.”

“We are looking at many issues, and seek answers to questions,” Gordon said in his letter to Pimentel.

Gordon said over 90 percent of the illegal drugs entering the country comes from China.

“If they (Chinese officials) don’t (testify), I think President Duterte has to review his friendship with China,” Gordon said.

On the other hand, Sen. Panfilo Lacson challenged Faeldon to sign a waiver on the secrecy of bank deposits in order to back up his claims of innocence on the allegations of corruption raised against him.

Lacson noted it was Faeldon who volunteered to sign a waiver in his interviews but has not actually done so.

“He said I’m willing to open my bank accounts, including those of the members of my family, but that’s just words,” he said.

“To formalize it, if he is really serious, then it is better for him to sign a waiver under (Republic Act) 1405, the Bank Secrecy Act. And he will allow the authorities or anybody he will assign to inquire into his bank deposits,” he added.

“And if there is nothing (in those accounts), I’ll be gentleman enough to apologize or maybe I committed a mistake.”

In a privilege speech delivered last week, Lacson claimed almost all of the officials and employees of the BOC are on the take, including Faeldon when he was still commissioner.

Lacson alleged Faeldon was given P100 million as “pasalubong” or welcome gift and he received payola from the illegal activities of the BOC.

Apart from that one-time gift, Lacson alleged the office of the commissioner received P5 million a day from the “tara” collections of the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port alone.

Lacson was referring to the alleged illegal practice of BOC personnel of assigning a fixed rate for shipments rather than conducting a legal assessment.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said Faeldon should be haled to court for refusing to follow strict protocols on the custody of evidence over the P6.4-billion shabu seized.

“We’re looking at possible planting of evidence against Faeldon for ordering the 100 kilos of shabu to be delivered to another warehouse,” Barbers said.

Barbers said Faeldon ordered the “unauthorized controlled delivery” of 100 kilos of shabu out of the total 604 kilos of the drug seized last May 26. 

The warehouse was reportedly rented out by a certain Jhu Ming-Jyun since May 2016 in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City where caretaker Fidel Anoche Dee was arrested by combined agents from the BOC, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the National Bureau of Investigation.

The raid was also not covered by any search warrant, according to Barbers, aside from the fact that the evidence has been “contaminated,” as testified by PDEA official Wilkins Villanueva

Villanueva reported Faeldon and his men “pried open” the metal cylinders containing the drugs without PDEA’s presence. 

The remaining 504 kilos of shabu were seized from the warehouse of Richard Tan – also known as Richard Chen or Chen Ju Long – at De Castro Subdivision in Barangay Paso de Blas, also in Valenzuela City.

Barbers stressed no drug charges have been filed against the suspects until now. 

Barbers, chairman of the dangerous drugs committee of the House of Representatives, moved to spare the 28 athletes hired by Faeldon as intelligence officers from any criminal liability.

House Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu of Batangas said the committee’s decision was to make Faeldon and his underlings criminally liable instead for hiring unqualified people. 

“Liabilities fall to those who hired and approved their employment, and to those who certified that they were present on days they were not performing their assigned duties and responsibilities required by Civil Service Commission regulations,” he said. 

On the other hand, lawyer Mandy Anderson, Faeldon’s chief of staff, should be criminally charged for falsification, Abu said.

“I recommended the filing by the Department of Justice of falsification charges as defined and penalized under Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code against Mandy Therese Anderson,” Abu said. 

Anderson earlier admitted signing the daily time records of the athletes hired by Faeldon as “assistants.”

Faeldon recruited former PBA players Kenneth Duremdes, Marlou Aquino and Edward Joseph Feihl among others as “technical assistants” or intelligence officers, who received P50,000 monthly even without providing intelligence information to the BOC. 

“Anderson signed the DTR (daily time record) of professional basketball and volleyball players and made it appear they reported for work as technical assistants and counter-intelligence analysts, when they were actually hired to play for the agency’s teams,” Abu said. – With Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla