Drug smuggling raps filed vs Polong Duterte, Sara’s husband

MANILA, Philippines — Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, former Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and lawyer Manases Carpio – the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte – are facing a complaint of drug smuggling and graft in connection with a shipment of P6.4 billion worth of shabu in 2017.

Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) a complaint accusing Duterte, Faeldon, Carpio and seven others of committing conspiracy in the smuggling of about 600 kilos of crystal meth.

Basing his complaint on the report of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which conducted hearings on the incident, Trillanes said the shabu shipment arrived on May 17, 2017 at the Manila International Container Port and was approved for release through the “green lane” or express lane of the BOC.

Through the green lane, the shipment, which came from China, did not undergo physical inspection and document verification, such as x-ray screening.

Trillanes also cited the testimony of BOC broker Mark Ruben Taguba, who tagged Duterte and Carpio as alleged members of the “Davao Group,” which supposedly used its “influence” to facilitate drug smuggling.

According to Taguba’s testimony, Duterte and Carpio only needed to call BOC collector Jet Maronilla to “facilitate clearance of their shipment without the danger of being flagged or alerted,” in exchange for P5 million as “enrollment fee” and an additional P1 million in advance weekly remittance.

Faeldon then allegedly influenced fellow respondents to break the chain of custody and facilitate previous shipments of Taguba.

Trillanes also accused Duterte, Carpio, Faeldon and four others of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The former senator urged the DOJ to initiate a preliminary investigation and to file charges in court against the respondents.

This, he said, is an opportunity for the DOJ to “seriously look into, investigate and prosecute these ‘big fishes’ who have made it possible to import gargantuan amounts of illegal drugs but who always evaded prosecution.”

“It must be emphasized that, without the conspiracy and direct participation and indispensable cooperation of the Respondents named herein, this brazen, consummated act of smuggling this more or less than 602 kilos of shabu, right through the front door of our Customs Bureau would have been unthinkable if not virtually impossible,” the complaint read.

“I believe it is now up to the Department of Justice and the courts to rise to the challenge and fill the institutional deficit in moral courage by prosecuting, trying and convicting the drug lords of all drug lords. There can be no bigger school of fish than this in the entire archipelago,” it added.

In a separate interview, Trillanes believed the filing of the complaint is appropriate because the respondents’ “control” over the judiciary is already over.

“Our judiciary, by and large, is functioning and fair, except for cases where the Dutertes have an interest in, where they manipulate the law and the judiciary to favor and protect them. But for now, we are not seeing any of that, that’s why we filed this case,” he said.

For his part, Paolo Duterte welcomed Trillanes’ plan to sue him.

“This is a welcome development, and this will be better because Philippine courts don’t operate like Facebook courts and the head of a crazy soldier,” he said.

According Duterte, this “move will allow us to address these accusations through the proper legal channels, ensuring that the truth will prevail.”

“I have always maintained my innocence, and I am confident that the judicial process will clear my name. It is important to rely on our legal institutions rather than resorting to trial by publicity or baseless allegations,” he said.

He also warned Trillanes he looks “forward to the resolution of the libel cases I filed against him.”

“Please bear in mind that this is the similar case that Mr. Trillanes has made a fool out of himself when he presented his alleged evidences against me as a mercenary. I’m not surprised who Trillanes has once again fooled to fund this desperate attempt to peddle this baseless story to the Filipino people,” Duterte said. – Delon Porcalla