Duterte orders arrest of Customs intelligence officer

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the word war between top Bureau of Customs and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officials, President Duterte has ordered the arrest of former BOC intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, who testified at the House of Representatives on how P6.8 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) slipped past the bureau.

 “Tell me, who is this guy asking for money, extortion? I will call him here, I’ll have him arrested,” Duterte said yesterday at Malacañang as the House conducted its inquiry into the shabu shipment.

Duterte said he has given orders to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde to arrest Guban.

“Albayalde asked, ‘on what ground?’ Just bring him to the (National Bureau of Investigation),” Duterte said in a speech during the Philippine Quality Awards.

“Sabihin mo dalhin sa Cavite. Ihulog sa… Siya ang nagpasok, siya ang nag-fake ng ID…(Tell the NBI, bring Guban to Cavite. Drop him into… He was the one who brought in the contraband, he faked the ID…),” Duterte said, referring to the BOC official who was tagged as part of a syndicate allegedly operating in the bureau and in cahoots with some PDEA and PNP officials.

Duterte expressed his dismay over how Guban also implicated former PNP Col. Eduardo Acierto in the illegal shipment.

Duterte said he saw Guban’s testimony while he was dressing up for his official appointments yesterday.

Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña has back-peddled on his earlier statement and said he is convinced that the magnetic lifters found in Cavite may have contained illegal drugs.

Duterte earlier said there is no basis to say that the shipment intercepted by PDEA agents contained shabu.

The President also claimed that some people are trying to pin down Davao-based trader Michael Yang over illegal activities in what he perceives as a shakedown by unscrupulous individuals to destroy the integrity of the person who has been seen socializing in public with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua.

A few weeks ago, Duterte released to the media a drug matrix allegedly identifying the links among Guban, Acierto, Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan, Supt. Ismael Fajardo, Supt. Lorenzo Bacia, Insp. Lito Pirote, Insp. Conrado Caragdag and Senior Police Officer 4 Alejandro Liwanag.

Kill the idiots

As this developed, Duterte told Lapeña and PDEA director general Aaron Aquino to get their act together and go after the groups behind drug smuggling in the country.

Duterte ordered Lapeña and Aquino to stop swapping accusations in public and work together to stop the drug smugglers.

Duterte also vouched for the integrity of Lapeña and Aquino.

“Lapeña is good, he has been with me. Believe me, he served Davao City more than 15 years. Also, Aquino, but they are outsmarted instead of killing the idiots,” Duterte said during the 2018 Philippine Heritage Awards, Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan and National Artist Awards yesterday in Malacañang.

“Why don’t you just stop blaming (each other) and go for the…” he said.

Speaking about the prevalence of corruption in the country despite his no- nonsense campaign, Duterte lamented that even BOC officials are given a runaround by smugglers.

“Good for you, but I will be ordering the arrest of all of you. They kept coming back… There has to be something seriously wrong,” Duterte said.

Duterte lamented that he has done everything in the BOC, like reshuffling people.

“The system is corrupt. This government, this democracy is not working unless we have a graft-free country or at least a semblance of regularity that can function,” he said.