Drilon wants Customs revamp, including firing of Faeldon

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon sought on Sunday a revamp of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), including the firing of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, in the aftermath of the questionable release of a P6.4 billion “shabu” (crystal meth) shipment from China in May.

“A major revamp in the customs is made necessary by what happened. We can no longer trust the competence of its officials led by Commissioner Faeldon,” Drilon said in a statement.

Drilon also said those involved in smuggling the 605 kilograms of shabu that ended up in a warehouse in Valenzuela City should be held accountable.

Faeldon and top Customs officials are under fire for the shabu shipment brought in by a new trading firm that was allowed to bring out its shipment without inspection, in violation of customs regulations.

BOC teams were able to recover the shipment in a warehouse after being tipped off by the Chinese government but it did not coordinate well with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which is supposed to be on top of illegal drug operations. Until now, no cases have been filed against those responsible for bringing in the illegal drugs.

President Rodrigo Duterte told a group of senators and congressmen last week that he would decide on the fate of Faeldon after both the Senate and House conclude their respective inquiries on the shabu shipment and submit their recommendations.

Sen. Richard Gordon, who chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating the shabu shipment at the BOC, recalled that during the meeting of the lawmakers with the President last week, he had told the Chief Executive of his disappointment upon learning that Faeldon was retained despite the controversy.

“We should finish the investigation. And the investigation has uncovered a lot of things,” Gordon said.

The senator said he would hold two more hearings before he concluded the inquiry. He had scheduled the next hearing on Wednesday.

An administration ally on Sunday said that Faeldon might have integrity, but lacked the know-how in running the BOC.

Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles said Faeldon’s lack of understanding on the office’s dynamics might have unwittingly allowed the people surrounding him to manipulate the system and continue corrupt practices.

Nograles referred to the smuggling of 605 kg of shabu worth P6.4 billion.

“Commissioner Faeldon might be clean and true to his mandate but I don’t feel the same way on the people who are with him. That shabu shipment that passed through the green lane could have not happened without the knowledge of people in his office,” Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles said Faeldon from the start should have immediately questioned the cargo selection system for being vulnerable to manipulation, which could easily be passed off as negligence.

“This is basic management. If you alter the system, you can trace who actually altered it but if you simply miss out in inputting the parameters, the people who are tasked to do this can simply claim that they forgot,” Nograles said.

While it drew flak from the country’s lawmakers, the BOC was lauded by the Chinese government for the shabu seizure.

Zhang Xiaohui, head of the International Enforcement Cooperation Division-Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the General Administration of Customs, lauded the BOC’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Service headed by Director Neil Estrella for its prompt action on the intelligence information from the Chinese counterpart in May.

“Thank you to the prompt action of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, Bureau of Philippine Customs, the 605 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride was successfully seized. Otherwise the drugs will go into the black market which the consequence cannot be imagined,” Zhang wrote.

Meanwhile, Faeldon has stood firm on his claim that some members of Congress have peddled influence in the bureau. But he rejected calls by several sectors for him to name names.

“I don’t want to publicly embarrass people,” Faeldon stressed. He explained that he would only reveal the names of the politicians in an executive session. —With a report from Tina G. Santos