Faeldon lawyer to give up bar membership if bribe rap proven

Former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon: I will gladly stay in jail. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The counsel of resigned Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Tuesday said he’s willing to surrender his bar membership if anyone could testify that he handed bribe money to the embattled commissioner.

“I am willing to surrender my membership to Philippine bar if a witness comes forward and says that, ‘I handed personally from my hand to Capt. Faeldon’s hand bribe money or ‘yung sinasabing P100 million na sinasabing tara,’” lawyer Jose Dino Jr. told reporters in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“I am 100 percent certain na wala po ‘yan. Kung mayroon man ay fake witness siya,” Dino said.

Faeldon is currently detained at the Senate after he was cited for contempt for refusing to attend the blue ribbon committee hearings on the P6.4-billion drug shipment that went past the BOC, as well as the alleged “tara system” in the agency.

Dino said Faeldon still won’t attend any congressional hearing.

Even in detention, Dino said his client is in “good fighting spirit” as Faeldon has been receiving “outpouring of support,” some coming from senators.

Dino, however, did not identify who were the lawmakers who visited Faeldon.

Wherever Faeldon may be transferred, be it in a jail in Muntinlupa or Pasay City, Dino said the ex-commissioner will be ready.

“Let us remember that he voluntarily asked that he be detained straight to his detention room… He said his detention wherever it may be, whether it is in the Senate or in Pasay or in Muntinlupa that’s just a very small price to pay for a person who has a message and is, that is a very small price to pay for a person who has a message to impart to his fellowmen,” Dino said.

Explaining the reason why he’s not showing up at the hearings, Faeldon said both the Senate and the House of Representatives have been used by some lawmakers to malign “innocent persons,” including himself.

He said he would rather stay in jail while being tried by a competent court rather than attending the congressional inquiries.

Faeldon has been tagged as one of the bribe takers in the BOC, perceived as one of the most corrupt agencies in the government.

Faeldon denied these allegations./ac