Many people who watched Digong Duterte on TV yesterday began to realize why he is a populist President.
While meeting at the airport some overseas contract workers who came home after being stranded in Saudi Arabia for a long time, Mr. Duterte said that people who are strapped for cash can personally approach him about their problem.
In his speech welcoming back the stranded overseas workers, the President said the gates of Malacañang are open to them.
I don’t know how Mano Digong can solve the financial problem of people who come to him as he lives a very modest lifestyle.
But the guy is sincere and loves to be with the poor.
When he was mayor of Davao City, Digong liked to take his friends or visitors to lunch or dinner in eateries patronized by the masses.
I remember introducing an American friend, Matt Grecsec, to then Mayor Duterte who took us to a restaurant serving goat meat.
Digong offered Matt a bowl of papaitan, a soup made from goat innards, which made the American run to the washroom to puke.
Digong was smiling mischievously while the American was in the washroom.
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The President is greatly succeeding in fighting drugs and criminality with his unorthodox methods but his campaign against corruption and inefficiency in government will have to wait.
At the graft-ridden Bureau of Customs, Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon relieved Capt. Arnel Baylosis of the customs police and transferred him to the Jolo port for the wrong reasons.
Baylosis had seized P100-million worth of smuggled red and white onions upon the orders of then Deputy Commissioner for Operations Ariel Nepomuceno who was on his way out.
Faeldon, however, accused Baylosis of receiving P100 million in payola from smugglers every month.
The customs chief also accused Baylosis of demanding P100 million from the broker and consignee of the smuggled shipment.
The amount of P100 million given as a monthly bribe to a minor customs official like Baylosis is ridiculous.
That would mean that higher-ranking customs officials, from collectors to the commissioner, receive billions of pesos in bribes every month!
If ever, the most that Baylosis could get would be P20,000, according to a customs insider.
How did Faeldon come up with the P100-million monthly bribe and Baylosis’ alleged demand of P100 million for the release of the shipment?
According to an insider, Faeldon believed the intrigues and stories circulating within the bureau.
The insider added that a broker who handled the seized smuggled shipment told Faeldon— who is apparently gullible— about Baylosis’ astronomical payola and demand for the shipment’s release.
Apparently the wives of both men—Faeldon and the broker—are very close friends, says my customs source.
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If Faeldon remains chief of the second biggest government revenue collection agency, the Bureau of Customs will have a huge deficit at the end of the year.
The customs bureau incurred a P13-billion shortage in revenue collection in July, reportedly the highest in its history.
The deficit will be bigger in August when the collection reports come in.
Why is the customs bureau performing under par with Faeldon at the helm?
The former Marine captain does not have the cooperation of his subordinates in the bureau; his management style is not appropriate for a civilian agency.
Faeldon tried to recruit new lawyers in their mid-20s to replace all the bureau’s collectors who are veterans.
His move was disapproved by Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez.
In retaliation, the collectors who are all civil service eligible now work sluggishly.