Faeldon: Charges over P6.4-B shabu shipment mere imaginations

Former Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Thursday dismissed as "sloppy" and "mere imaginations" the criminal complaint filed against him by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in relation to the P6.4-billion smuggled shabu from China that slipped past under his watch.

Faeldon showed up at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the continuation of the preliminary investigation on the complaint that accuses him of conspiring to import illegal drugs and coddling drug traffickers under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, graft, obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree 1829 and for negligence and tolerance under Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code.

In his counter-affidavit, Faeldon said the allegations of PDEA Seaport Interdiction Unit chief Norman Balquiedra that he should be accountable for the importation and bringing into the Philippines of the 602.279 kilograms of shabu had no basis.

"His allegations, being mere imaginations or worse hallucinations, are wholly insufficient to sustain the view of herein respondent's culpability, even remotely or indirectly, as his imaginations cannot be considered as proceeding from his personal knowledge," the counter-affidavit stated.

"Because even in his dreams, this Balquiedra could not even pin let alone prove, my direct or even direct participation in the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling, he desperately charged me instead with 'conspiring' with my co-respondents, all of whom were former BOC employees, in importing the said contraband," it added.

Faeldon also said there has been no allegation, much less an affidavit, from any PDEA, National Bureau of Investigation or BOC officer or employee, that he ordered them not to apprehend any suspect, investigate and initiate criminal cases  cases against "one, some or all of the drug smugglers."

The former BOC chief said had he wanted to enrich himself in office, all he needed to do was to exclude the drug shipment that was traced to the Valenzuela City warehouse of Hongfei Logistics Inc. owned by businessman Chen Ju Long, alias Richard Tan, from the seizure operation.

"That way, the smuggled drugs could have been easily spirited out of Valenzuela City warehouse, away from the prying eyes of the NBI, PDEA and the whole nation, and while no one knew and while no one was looking," the counter-affidavit stated. "Again, it was that easy, really, but herein respondent did not."

Faeldon surmised that the charges against him was the handiwork of Senator Panfilo Lacson through his "errand boy," former PDEA National Capital Region director and now Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service chief Wilkins Villanueva.

"I have submitted myself to the jurisdiction of the DOJ investigating panel who I trust will see through the machinations of Senator Lacson, through his errand boy Wilkins Villanueva, in regard to this utterly baseless harassment, which truth to tell, should be thrown straight to the wastebasket," Faeldon said in a separate statement, without elaborating.

It was Lacson who accused Faeldon of accepting bribes during the latter's stint as BOC chief.

DOJ junks Faeldon bid to dismiss raps

Faeldon also insisted that only the Office of the Ombudsman has the right to act on the complaint against him being a ranking public official even as the DOJ investigating panel already ruled that it has jurisdiction over them.

Faeldon was under Salary Grade 30 when he was BOC chief from July 2016 to September 2017.

But the panel said the DOJ has jurisdiction to conduct preliminary investigation for the purpose of determining whether cases falling under RA 9165 should be filed before the regional trial courts.

Section 90 of the RA 9165 confers exclusive jurisdiction to the RTC over drug cases, which the Supreme Court cited in junking Senator Leila de Lima's petition questioning the right of the RTC to try drug offenses. 

"[T]his panel finds no cogent reason to deviate from the earlier positions of the Department that it has jurisdiction to conduct preliminary investigation over drug cases involving public officers and employees including those who have a salary grade of 27 and higher, especially so that such position was affirmed by the Supreme Court in the said en banc case [Sen. De Lima vs Hon. Juanita Guerrero], and as to this date, remains unreversed," the panel stated in junking Faeldon's motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction.

Apart from Faeldon, 24 respondents filed their counter affidavits including Chen, former CIIS director Neil Anthony Estrella, customs fixer Mark Taguba, customs broker Teejay Marcellana, detained businessman Kenneth Dong and six NBI officers.

Estrella refuted PDEA's claim that the CIIS had acted irregularly when it launched the operation to seize the illegal drugs, saying Chen signed a waiver allowing the inspection of the shipment contained in wooden crates.

The former CIIS chief also said the chain of custody of the illegal drugs was preserved.

"It can be established by law enforcement agents that participated in the drug bust from the seizure to inventory to turnover to chemical analysis to presentation of the illegal drugs in court, among others," the counter-affidavit stated.

Former BOC Import Assessment Services director Milo Maestrecampo will submit his counter-affidavit on October 24 after the three-man panel of prosecutors granted his request, citing missing annexes to the PDEA complaint.

PDEA, meanwhile, will file its reply to the counter-affidavits on November 3.

The illegal shipment was discovered on May 26 when the BOC and the NBI raided Chen's Hongfei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City based on a tip from Chinese authorities.

The bust compelled the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct separate inquiries into the controversy, which prompted Faeldon to resign amid allegations he pocketed grease money while in office. — RSJ, GMA News