House told: Faeldon to rest until Monday

Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon (right) addresses questions from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee during the hearing on the P6.4-billion worth of smuggled shabu from China on Monday, July 31, 2017. (FILE PHOTO by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon has to rest until Monday, even as he is set to be released on Thursday after being hospitalized for chest problems.

This was the information relayed by Faeldon’s physician to House of Representatives Sergeant-at-Arms Ronald Detabali, who conducted an inspection as directed by the ways and means committee.

Detabali said he and three House doctors visited Faeldon at the Manila East Medical Center in Taytay, Rizal, at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

“Faeldon could be discharged from [the] hospital today, but should rest [as] per physician until Monday. Per doc, he had chest pains, high BP (blood pressure), etc. but now very stable,” he said in a text message.

READ: Faeldon has ‘heart problems,’ says chief of staff

The embattled Customs chief was reportedly hooked up on dextrose, but was already recuperating in a regular room and out of the intensive care unit.

Faeldon has been hospitalized since Monday, which meant he missed the Monday hearing by the House dangerous drugs committee and the Wednesday hearings by the Senate blue ribbon committee and the House ways and means committee.

Deputy Commissioner Natalio Ecarma III initially told lawmakers on Monday that Faeldon had a “dental emergency,” prompting a rebuke by House Deputy Speaker Miro Quimbo who said that for reasons “less than a heart attack, he should show up.”

On Wednesday, Faeldon’s chief of staff Mandy Therese Anderson disclosed that he was diagnosed for “heart problems,” adding that he did not previously have a serious medical condition besides breathing difficulties due to pollution a few months ago.

Faeldon has been on the hot seat after 605 kilograms of shabu (crystal meth) slipped past Customs controls. The cargo was eventually seized in a Valenzuela City warehouse on May 26, but lawmakers criticized the agency for “bungling” the raid by mishandling evidence and failing to abide by the proper procedures. JE