Duterte defends former Customs commissioners Faeldon, Lapeña

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday defended and vouched for the integrity of former Bureau of Customs commissioners Nicanor Faeldon and Isidro Lapeña.

"Sid was good. Faeldon was good," Duterte said in his speech during the distribution of land ownership certificates in Boracay.

The president said that the former Customs commissioner, who was recently appointed as the new director general of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), is not involved in illegal drug trade.

"Alam mo si Faeldon... Why would he f--k with drugs kung gusto niyang magnegosyo? Maraming negosyo diyan na hindi ka masisira," he said.

Duterte even recounted how the former military officer contributed in the pursuit of tax cases against a cigarette company.

"'Yung Mighty King cigarettes siya [Faeldon] 'yung nagsabi sa akin, 'Sir may malaki dito.' Hindi drugs 'yun, sigarilyo. Fake lang ang stamps. You know ang sabi ko sa kanya, 'tirahin mo,'" Duterte said.

"And in the process because you know tax cases can be compromised alam ninyo yan. So how much that we got? P35 billion ang binayad ni Mighty King," he went on to say.

Faeldon resigned from the BOC late last year following the controversy over the smuggling of P6.4-billion worth of shabu from China.

He was detained at the Senate for refusing to testify at a blue ribbon committee probe.

Charges against him were dismissed by the Department of Justice in November 2017.

Lapeña, on the other hand, was appointed by Duterte as TESDA chief.

The transfer of his post came amid the controversy of P11 billion-worth of shabu that has allegedly slipped through the country.

The BOC is now led by chief of staff of the Armed Forces Philippines, Rey Leonardo Guerrero.

Meanwhile, Duterte also mentioned in his speech former Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy director general Marcelo Garbo, Jr.

"Itong si Garbo, I don’t know where he is, that idiot. You know Garbo was the police aide, senior aide of Roxas. Alam ko si Roxas... Vote for Roxas, Ilonggo eh. Iboto ninyo, walang problema ‘yan. Pero Garbo na ‘yan, naghawak ng droga sa Visayas. Iyon ang police makita mo palagi sa tabi ni Roxas doon," he said.

Garbo was one of the five police generals tagged by Duterte in 2016 as allegedly involved in illegal drugs. The president ordered them relieved from their posts.

The former PNP official denied the allegation and said that Duterte "was fed with wrong and poisonous information." — BAP, GMA News