President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he would wait for the result of the congressional investigations on the P6.4-billion worth of illegal drugs from China that slipped through the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last May before he decides on the fate of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.
“Let the investigation go to its end,” Duterte told reporters in an interview at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) national office in Quezon City, where he spoke on the occasion of the agency’s 113th founding anniversary.
“Let them wind up. I want the report final,” he said. “Then I will review it and I will be fair,” Duterte told reporters in an interview after at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Quezon City. I will not be a multiplier to the messy.”
The President said due process must be observed following the drug shipment probe against Faeldon and other customs officials.
“Wala pang result ng investigation, so due process,” he said. “Yung criminal humihingi ng due process, sila pa na nasa gobyerno? I said if there is corrutpion, wala na tayong magawa.”
President Rodrigo Duterte talks with reporters after he attended the 113th founding anniversary of the Bureau of Internal Revuenue in Quezon City on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017. (Photo by NESTOR CORRALES / INQUIRER.net)
On Tuesday night, Duterte met with Faeldon and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III in Malacañang shortly after the hearing conducted by the House Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs.
“I believe in his integrity,” Duterte said. “We will look into it, but I will be fair.”
In February, the President fired Peter Laviña as administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) due to corruption allegations.
Before that Laviña served him as spokesman during the 2016 national elections,.
Then, in April, Duterte sacked Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno due to a corruption allegationsover the irregular purchase of the Rosenbauer firetrucks from Austria. /atm