Senator Franklin Drilon (left) and former Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon (right). INQUIRER FILES
Senator Franklin Drilon said on Thursday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to place former Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to its witness protection program as he urged the embattled official to reveal the truth about the corruption in Customs.
“Should Faeldon decide to cooperate by revealing what he knew of this massive corruption in the customs, it is proper that he be placed under the WPP,” Drilon said in a statement.
“Now is the time for former Comm. Faeldon to speak up. It is time to spill the beans,” he said.
After Senator Panfilo Lacson exposed the massive corruption in the Customs, Drilon said Faeldon is the most qualified person to corroborate claims of corruption under his watch.
He said the DOJ should “seriously consider the revelations made by Lacson and start its own investigation into the matter.”
Drilon called on the department to also review the testimonies made at the Senate blue ribbon’s investigation into the P6.4 billion shabu shipment from China.
Lacson on Wednesday gave a comprehensive privilege speech accusing a number of Customs officials as high as its commissioner of receiving bribe money.
READ: Holy mackerel! Lacson bares Faeldon got P100-M ‘pasalubong’
A day after Lacson’s revelations, Faeldon responded to Lacson, saying the senator himself knew about the corruption in Customs as his son, Pampi Lacson, was involved in cement smuggling.
Lacson belied this, saying it would be illogical for him to expose the shenanigans in Customs if Faeldon’s allegations were true.
READ: Faeldon points Lacson a smuggler
The senator said he was shocked upon hearing his fellow senator’s revelation but said “it should give the Congress more resolve to address the top-down corruption in the agency.”
“It’s a shocking, disheartening revelation, but it behooves Congress to act swiftly to solve this issue of corruption in the bureau once and for all,” Drilon said. JE