Faeldon resurfaces at Senate’s Customs smuggling probe

Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon shows up at the Senate to attend the Customs smuggling investigation on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. Faeldon took a break after health problems prompted him not to attend the hearings to take some time to rest. Screenshot from INQUIRER.net video / CATHY MIRANDA

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon resurfaced on Tuesday at the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the P6.4-billion shabu shipment in the country.

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

Faeldon is expected to answer the allegations that he was among the top Customs officials receiving bribe money.

The commission missed several congressional hearings due to two instances: first, dental emergency; then later chest pains and high blood pressure.

A day before the Senate committee resumed probe on the shipment of 605 kilograms of shabu from China into the country, Sen. Panfilo Lacson revealed that he has information that Faeldon was one of the beneficiaries of bribe money in the agency.

Asked where he got the information, Lacson said: “May nagbigay sa akin. Tatanungin lang natin (Someone just gave it to me. We’ll just have to ask).”

Lacson also revealed presidential son Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte was not in the list of suspected smugglers.

But he said, the younger Duterte’s alleged involvement in the Customs mess will be clarified with private broker Mark Ruben Taguba II.

Taguba mentioned Paolo’s name in one of the congressional hearings on the illegal shabu shipment.

“Pwede rin tanungin kung i-elaborate ni Mark Taguba at kung may personal transaction directly with Paolo or whoever close to Paolo pwede tanungin yan (We can ask Mark Taguba if he can elaborate and if he has personal and direct transaction with Paolo or whoever close to Paolo, it can be asked),” said Lacson.

Taguba also named BOC’s Intelligence and Investigation Service director (CIIS) Neil Anthony Estrella, Intelligence Group deputy Commissioner Teddy Raval, Import Assessment Services (IAS) Director Milo Maestrecampo, and Manila International Container Port (MCIP) district collector Vincent Philip Maronilla.

Maestrecampo, who vehemently denied the allegations, has resigned from his post. JPV