BOC chief not sacking official who called Speaker ‘imbecile’

Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Thursday said he would not fire the Bureau of Customs (BOC) official who accused Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of meddling in the agency’s appointment procedure and called him an “imbecile.”

During the House of Representatives’ hearing on Wednesday, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas criticized BOC chief executive assistant Atty. Mandy Mercado Anderson for her Facebook post.

“Why do you call the Speaker an imbecile? The Congress has the power to abolish the Court of Appeals because the CA is a creation of Congress,” Fariñas said, addressing Anderson.

Faeldon said he was not condoning Anderson’s action but pointed out that she was “entitled to her own opinion.”

“I would like to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed by Atty. Anderson on her Facebook account are solely hers and does not represent the views of the Bureau of Customs. The BOC does not have any inclination towards any of the politicians but we only follow the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte – that is to have an honest, clean and corrupt-free Bureau of Customs,” he added.

Despite this, Faeldon maintained his decision to let Anderson remain in BOC.

“I will let Atty. Mandy Anderson remain in the Bureau as we need more people like her whose character is untainted with politics and corruption. Also, her personal opinion does not reflect or affect her efficacy in public service. We will remain firm in our resolve to provide good public service,” said Faeldon.

In a Facebook post last June 16, Anderson called Alvarez an “imbecile” for threatening to close down the Court of Appeals for allegedly meddling in the detention by the House of six Ilocos Norte provincial officers.

READ: Customs official in hot water for calling Speaker Alvarez ‘imbecile’

In an interview with radio station dzMM, Anderson later explained her post and revealed that Alvarez sought the promotion of an “unqualified employee” in May.

READ: BOC exec bares bullying by Speaker for ‘unqualified’ worker’s promotion

Anderson said during the interview that she asked for the BOC employee’s curriculum vitae and discovered the BOC employee was unqualified for a promotion. Anderson did not recommend the said employee, which made Alvarez mad.

Faeldon, meanwhile, maintained that promotions in BOC must be based on qualifications and performance.

“The BOC is now observing a more stringent process of promotion and we will adhere to it. This is no longer the time to promote employees based on recommendations alone. Promotion must be based on qualifications and performance,” Faeldon said.

“Sa totoo lang, ilang beses nang napromote ang empleyadong ito for the past years pero ‘yung ibang empleyado natin dito, limang taon, sampung taon at ang iba ay dalawampung taon na sa ahensiya ay kahit isang beses hindi nakatikim ng promotion,” said the Customs commissioner, adding that he just wants to be fair.

(The truth is, this employee has been promoted several times in the past years, but the other employees who have been with this agency for the last, five, 10 or even 20 years have not experienced a promotion.) IDL/rga