New BOC chief confirms P100-M ‘gift’ to Faeldon – Ping

MANILA, Philippines — Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña has confirmed that his predecessor Nicanor Faeldon had received more than P100 million in pasalubong or welcome gift from smugglers and unscrupulous businessmen shortly after he was appointed to head the BOC in May last year, Sen. Panfilo Lacson bared yesterday.

Lacson said Lapeña confided to him prior to a recent Senate hearing into corruption at the BOC that Faeldon received P107 million, and one source is from tax credit certificates (TCC) issued to big importers.

The senator said Lapeña’s disclosure confirmed his privilege speech last Aug. 23 that Faeldon received P100 million as pasalubong, of which P25 million was pocketed by a middleman identified as Joel Teves.

He said Lapeña told him that shortly after he replaced Faeldon, some groups tried to offer him money partially sourced from TCCs, which allows large importers to refund hundreds of millions or even billions of pesos in refunds from the value-added tax they have paid in the importation of VAT-exempt raw materials.

“Corruption became structural under his (Faeldon) watch because he centralized the power the authority of Customs (to issue alert orders),” Lacson told ANC.

Faeldon remains detained at the Senate for refusing to testify before the Blue Ribbon committee, which was conducting a hearing on corruption at the BOC.

Lacson also filed a complaint for economic sabotage against Faeldon before the Office of the Ombudsman for allowing the smuggling of rice.

The committee earlier recommended the filing of administrative charges against Faeldon and other former BOC officials in connection with rampant corruption and smuggling activities at the bureau.

In the 52-page draft committee report being circulated among senators for signature, the panel recommended the filing of charges for violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against former BOC officials.

The panel, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, held nine hearings into the reported corruption in the BOC, and the smuggling of more than a ton of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu from China that slipped through the bureau’s express or “green lane” in the past several months.

“What happened here is so grave and shocking to the senses because the BOC has failed to guard our portals from the entry of drugs that kill us and our countrymen. Our sentinels have failed us,” the report read.

“We have entered into a new phase in our struggle – huge amounts of drugs are entering the country through the BOC, corrupting public officers, enriching only the players in it, while contributing to the country’s moral decay,” it stated.

Faeldon violated the CMTA in creating the command center, which centralized the issuance of alert orders on questionable shipments, among others, the report stated.