Faeldon urges Gordon to probe alleged smuggling by Lacson's son

Former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Thursday urged Senator Richard "Dick" Gordon to investigate the alleged smuggling activity of the son of Senator Panfilo Lacson.

"Senator Dick Gordon, baka gusto mo rin [imbestigahan]. P4.6 billion shipment of cement ito at pinangalanan ng association of cement manufacturers of the Philippines that Buon Journo is the number one smuggler of cement to the country," he said.

"Baka this warrants your investigation, Senator Gordon. Baka gusto niyong imbestigahan dahil ito nagpapakita rin ito ng mga dummies. The documents will speak," Faeldon said in an interview on News To Go.

He earlier revealed in a press conference that Lacson's son, Panfilo "Pampi" Lacson Jr., allegedly owned the undervalued (by at least 50-percent) shipment of cement he and his appointed officers discovered during their first few days in office.

"We discovered the smuggled shipment during [our] first 12 days of office in Customs," Faeldon said in a press conference.

He added that Lacson Jr. only had only P20,000 in capital but his company, Buon Journo, was able to import billions of pesos' worth of cement in sixty-seven shiploads.

"If you investigate this, you will see what's the truth. Walang lies dito. Documents to documents lang tayo. Wala tayong hearsay. Documents lang ang titingnan niyo. And you will see what is the truth about this," Faeldon said in the TV interview.

The former Customs commissioner said that as of Thursday, he knew of four shipments linked to Lacson Jr.

"'Yung unang tatlong na-alert natin nu'ng July ay ni-release natin eventually because Pampi Lacson Jr produced a document that seems to be in... After 12 days of my stay in the Customs, ang advice sa akin nu'ng nag-examine ng document ay mukhang hindi natin kayang patunayan kung peke ito," he said.

"That's why we wrote a letter to DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] verifying kung 'yung dokumento bang iyan ay peke. Eh until today 'yung DTI hindi sumagot," he added.

This was why the Bureau of Customs (BOC) released the shipment after 30 days, he said.

"So we released it with the presumption that Mr. Lacson, Panfilo Lacson Jr, is telling the truth," Faeldon said.

However, in October, he said there was another shipload of cement that was put on hold in Legazpi. 

"And again he presented a document claiming na 'yun 'yung nagpapatunay na hindi undervalued by 50 percent 'yung kanyang deklarasyon. Pero 'yung document is ni hindi pinirmahan ng kahit sino. So hindi na siya nakalusot do'n," Faeldon said.

"So nagbayad si, in-upgrade ni Pampi Lacson 'yung kanyang payment. From $8 per metric ton to $16. That's 100 percent increase," he added.

"Nakita na natin 'yung sa tatlo, hindi siya nagbayad. 'Yung pang-apat na nahuli natin, napilitan na siyang magbayad. Inangat na niya by 100 percent," he said.

Aside from these four shipments, however, there were 63 other shipments that Lacson Jr.'s company tried to bring in, Faeldon said.

"And I just find out today that aside from the four shiploads, meron pa po palang 63 na shiploads, 63 barko na ipinasok itong si Mr. Lacson na semento sa bansa. And the total amount of this in our market is P4.6 billion," he said.

"Ngayon 'yung dokumento ng kanyang kompanya, tiningnan ko ngayong umaga, ay P20,000 lang ang paid-up capital nu'ng 2015. So paano niya kayang mag-transact ng bilyong bilyon na semento eh ang paid-up capital niya ay P20,000?" Faeldon asked.

"So ito ay malinaw na isang smuggling by undervaluating 'yung kanyang semento," Faeldon said.

"This smuggling of Mr. Lacson is not an admin case. It is a criminal case dahil itong 63 more shiploads, makikita natin on record, if he paid the correct duties or not. Within the day, we will know," he said.

Faeldon also said that they were not able to investigate Lacson Jr's case since they prioritized investigating notorious importers.

"Now itong na-alert lang na hindi na-seize, ito 'yung case ni Mr. Lacson, hindi pa namin nauumpisahan ang investigation kasi inuna natin 'yung notorious based on record," he said.

Faeldon added that their investigations the past six months resulted in the suspension and cancellation of import permits of 800 importers. "Another 1,400 are under investigation. Matatapos ito sa September. Ito ay 'yung administrative case laban sa kanila. Pinili namin 'yung mga shipment na na-seize na ng gobyerno," he said.

Faeldon added that the Cement Manufacturers' Association of the Philippines wrote his office in July informing him that Buon Journo is the number one smuggler of cement to the country. 

Lacson, however, on Thursday denied Faeldon's claims that his son is involved in smuggling billions of pesos worth of cement.

In a statement, Lacson said it does not make sense for him to expose the corruption at the BOC if there is any truth to Faeldon’s claims. —KG, GMA News