Faeldon to voluntary surrender at Senate

(Update 11:44 a.m., Sept. 8) Resigned Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon will voluntarily turn himself in to the Senate on Monday not to attend the probe on the smuggling of P6.4-billion illegal drugs from China but to have himself arrested.

“By Monday, I will got to the Senate and let myself arrested but I will not go there to attend the hearing,” Faeldon said Friday in a televised press conference from his home in Taytay, Rizal.

“Yes, I will go to the Senate by Monday and let myself arrested but I will not go and attend the hearing. Pwede nila akong buhatin, paupuin dun (They can carry me, let me sit there) but still my position is I will not participate…” he added.

Faeldon said he is willing to attend hearings conducted by “competent courts, but not the two Houses.”

“Meaning any court in the world [that] will ask me dahil may kaso ako, I will attend and answer the questions,” he said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday threatened to cite Faeldon for contempt and have him arrested for his repeated refusal to appear before its hearings.

The Senate’s arresting team went to Faeldon’s house on Friday to serve the warrant of arrest but later ordered to pull out as the order would only take effect if he would fail to appear again at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday.

Faeldon has protested the conduct of Senate inquiries, wherein he was accused by Sen. Panfilo Lacson of accepting a P100-million bribe as “pasalubong” or “welcome gift” upon assuming his position at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last year.

The former commissioner was also accused of benefitting from the BOC’s “tara” system, wherein he allegedly received regular bribes from smugglers.

He has repeatedly denied the accusations, saying that he is willing to open his and his family’s bank accounts to answer the allegations of corruption against him.

Faeldon has also challenged the senators to file a case against him so that a “competent court” could resolve the issues.

“Innocent persons like me have been maligned, destroyed, condemned by privilege speeches and some reckless pronouncements of these lawmakers,” he said.

“Ano ba ‘to? Kasangkapan lang ba kami do’n sa mga gusto niyo sa buhay? Eh paano na yung pamilya namin? (What is this? Are you just using us for your caprices in life? How about our families?)”