Ping says son has documents to belie smuggling

MANILA, Philippines -  Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that his son and namesake Panfilo “Pampi” Lacson Jr. is ready to present evidence that all the dealings of his company were aboveboard, contrary to the allegations made by outgoing Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon.

Lacson said that there is no truth to the claims of Faeldon that his son was involved in the smuggling of cement, through his Buonjourno Trading firm.

“The bottomline is, cement is not even the subject of tariff and Customs duties, so I can’t understand what smuggling Faeldon was talking about,” Lacson said.

What the government charges for cement imports is value added tax (VAT), which Lacson said his son’s company has been paying.

“My son swears they’re paying the correct VAT and have all the documents to prove it,” he said.

In a radio interview yesterday, Lacson said Faeldon’s claims the other day against him and his son were misleading.

Lacson said that Pampi has been paying the correct VAT based on the freight charge of $8 per metric ton of cement and that his company has the contract with the shipping company to prove this.

Faeldon, in his press conference, claimed that Buonjourno was declaring less than 50 percent of the freight cost at $8 when it should be $16 per metric ton.

Lacson said that a friend of his who is in the business of exporting nickel to China told him that the $16 per metric ton valuation of Faeldon was too high and that it should only be $8 to $9 per metric ton.

According to Lacson, Faeldon either does not understand Customs laws or he deliberately lied in his press conference just to get back at him for his exposé the day before about corruption in the BOC.

“Further, how can he claim that I made the exposé to have him removed as commissioner when he was already out of Customs when I delivered my privilege speech?” Lacson said.

In his privilege speech, Lacson said that almost all of the officials and personnel at the BOC received payola, including Faeldon, who he said even received P100 million as pasalubong or welcome gift when he assumed his former post.

Lacson maintained yesterday he was not involved in smuggling nor has he interceded for his son’s cement import business at the BOC.

Faeldon said Lacson was using his son as a dummy in the business.

“Smuggler? I’m absolutely sure I never called Faeldon or any Customs official to intercede for my son in any of his transactions with BOC,” Lacson said in his Twitter account.

Sen. Leila de Lima, in a statement yesterday, said that the allegations made by Lacson and Faeldon should both be investigated thoroughly.

“I join Senator (Franklin) Drilon’s call for Faeldon to tell all. Faeldon must also expose all other personalities involved in smuggling or other Customs-related anomalies, including senators, congressmen and other public officials, specifically those belonging to the so-called Davao group that facilitated the P6.4-billion shabu shipment,” De Lima said.

“It is about time that the investigation on smuggling also includes the presidential son, Paolo Duterte. Faeldon has shown the way. If he does not really consider anybody a sacred cow, even a senator’s son, he should not stop there. He should go all the way to the top even if it implicates the presidential son,” she added. 

De Lima said that this is the true test of Faeldon’s credibility, “otherwise, his imputations about Senator Lacson’s knowledge of his son’s illegal activities will just appear to be a lame counter-attack that is as selective as it is spiteful.” With Paolo Romero