Solons scold BOC official over 'imbecile' tag on Speaker Alvarez

Lawmakers on Wednesday scolded a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official for calling Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez "imbecile" on social media.

During a joint inquiry on the P6.4 billion worth of shabu that were recovered in warehouses in Valenzuela City last May, Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Fariñas chided Atty. Mandy Anderson for her scathing post against Alvarez on Facebook.

"You believe, as a government official, that you can call the fourth highest official in the land an imbecile?" Farinas told Anderson, the head executive assistant of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.

Anderson defended herself, saying she has the "freedom to express" her opinion on elected officials.

Fariñas then warned that all appropriation revenues originate from the House of Representatives, and an officer calling the Speaker "imbecile" may put in danger the function of the agency.

Anderson apologized for her post.

"I would like to apologize to the body and to the other lawmakers who are not here. That was not directed to you and I did not think of you when I did that," she said.

In an interview with reporters after the hearing, Deputy Speaker Miro Quimbo said he will leave to the BOC to discipline their officials.

"Hindi kami magdidikta sa Bureau of Customs kung anong dapat [gawin]. Nakita naman sa hearing kung anong klaseng ugali meron ang mga kawani niya. Hindi rin naman direktang insulto, pero hindi rin naman nila ginagawa ang kanilang trabaho," he said.

"Kailangan nilang ipaliwanag kung paano nangyari ito.... Anong pinagkaiba kung bibigyan sila budget, e hindi rin naman nila ginagawa ang trabaho nila? They have to justify and explain to us why they deserve this budget," Quimbo added. —KBK, GMA News