Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24) — After outgoing Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon denied involvement in any form of corruption, a senator is urging him to tell all that he knows about the “top-down corruption” in the agency.
“Now is the time for former Comm. Faeldon to speak up. It is time to spill the beans,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said in a statement on Thursday.
Drilon called for a full-blown investigation into an “exposé” by Senator Ping Lacson that Faeldon is among the Customs officials receiving “tara” or payoffs from brokers.
“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.
In a privilege speech in the senate, Lacson on Wednesday said Faeldon initially received “pasalubong” or another payoff of P100 million when he assumed as head of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in 2016.
FULL TEXT: Sen. Lacson’s ‘Kita-Kita sa Customs’ privilege speech
Faeldon immediately denied Lacson’s allegations.
“Again, I have not done any form of corruption in my many years of government service nor tolerated those who tried even in the form of request. No is no,” Faeldon said in a statement on Wednesday.
He called for an independent investigation into the accusations and said he hopes justice and truth will come out.
Faeldon is set to have a press conference on Thursday to clear his name.
Drilon, a former Justice Secretary himself, also called on the Department of Justice to “seriously consider” Lacson’s allegations and start its own probe.
He said Faedon could be its most important witness.
“Commissioner Faeldon is the most qualified person to corroborate these claims of corruption under his watch,” Drilon said.
“Should Faeldon decide to cooperate,” Drilon said, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre should consider placing him under the agency’s witness protection program.
Drilon and Lacson are both members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which is investigating the entry to the country of a ₱6.4-billion shabu shipment from China that passed through the BOC in May.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday named Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Isidro Lapeña as the new BOC chief.
