Blue ribbon draft reports seeks charges vs Faeldon, 12 others

The Senate blue ribbon committee appears not to be a “comite de absuelto” (committee of exoneration) after all.

The powerful committee has recommended the filing of criminal charges against 13 people led by former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon and three of his officials over the shipment from China of “shabu” (crystal meth) worth P6.4 billion that slipped past the bureau in May.

Lifestyle checks

A total overhaul of the BOC and the decentralization of the issuance of alert orders in shipments were also recommended by the committee as it lamented that the BOC “has become a partner in the drug trade.”

The committee also asked the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct lifestyle checks on these people and two members of the First Family — Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law, lawyer Manases Carpio, who testified at the Sept. 7 hearing — on the request of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

But the panel, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, said Duterte and Carpio were sent home to Davao City after that hearing “because no evidence was established to connect the two to the smuggling of drugs or other contraband through our [BOC].”

The committee also called for the dismantling of the payola system and recommended that the majority of BOC deputy commissioners be career officers.

The recommendations were contained in the draft committee report now being routed out for the signatures of committee members.

In its findings, the committee found that 13 people violated certain laws.

Five of them were Faeldon and four BOC officials—Neil Estrella, director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Services; Deputy Commissioner Gerardo Gambala, head of the Command Center; intelligence officer Joel Pinawin; and Milo Maestrecampo, director of the Import Assessment Service.

Command Center

Faeldon was found culpable for misfeasance and nonfeasance in the performance of his functions for violating the Customs and Tariff Administration Act and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The committee said that upon the instructions of Faeldon, the establishment of the Command Center “resulted in situations that ironically eased the entry of drugs and of illicit goods rather than prevent it.”

It said the creation of the Command Center was outside the powers of Faeldon as he “effectively reassigned BOC officers absent the approval of the secretary of finance, thereby arrogating unto himself the authority which he never possessed in the first place.”

“One major contributor to this disarray in the BOC was his penchant for putting in a cabal like-minded people, coming from the same background, PMAers or Magdalo members,” the committee said.

Echo chamber

“He created an echo chamber, where they listened only to themselves. Sadly for this country, we found that such arrangement only led to gross incompetence, resulting in corruptible officers and managers,” it added.

The committee recommended that the Department of Finance, Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Justice, NBI and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency investigate Faeldon “to determine the degree of his participation” and make a public announcement if he had no culpability after their probe.

Estrella and Gambala were also found to be culpable for misfeasance and nonfeasance in the performance of their duties.

Entry of ‘shabu’

Pinawin and Maestrecampo were found culpable for malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance in the performance of their duties.

The committee recommended that the authorities look into the participation of Larribert Hilario of the Risk Management Office in the entry of the shabu shipment as his office “could have served as a barrier in preventing the entry of the illegal cargo.”

Found liable for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act were Richard Chen (whose company brought in the shipment that turned out to include the shabu), Manny Li and Kenneth Dong (who facilitated the entry of Chen’s cargo), fixer Mark Taguba, shipment consignee Eirene Mae Tatad and customs broker Teejay Marcellana.

Davao City Councilor Small Abellera Jr. was found liable of direct bribery for allegedly accepting a P5-million bribe from Taguba as enrollment fee with the Davao Group, which reportedly facilitates the release of shipments at the BOC for a fee.