MANILA – An Office of the Ombudsman panel recommended the filing of charges against former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and other Customs officials over the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu.
Its Special Panel of Fact-Finding Investigators has completed the probe into the complaint on the smuggling of 602.2 kilograms of high-grade shabu, or crystal meth, the Ombudsman said Wednesday.
Aside from Faeldon, also recommended charged with violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were Import Assessment Service director Milo Maestrecampo, Risk Management Office chief Larribert Hilario and Accounts Management Office chief Mary Grace Tecson-Malabed.
The panel also recommended the filing of grave misconduct charges against Faeldon and Customs officials Joel Pinawin and Oliver Valiente. Tecson-Malabed and Maestrecampo were also facing gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct charges.
Additional charges of usurpation of official functions (Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code) and violation of Section 32 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 were recommended against Faeldon, and violation of Section 3(a) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Faeldon and Customs Director Neil Anthony Estrella.
“The criminal and administrative charges will undergo preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication, respectively,” the Ombudsman said.
Cleared from any complaint were President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Atty. Manases Carpio for “lack of basis.”
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales did not participate in the fact-finding investigation.
Malacañang said it respects the Ombudsman’s decision.
“Mr. Faeldon, et al. will now have their day in court where they can defend themselves in the upcoming preliminary investigation in connection with the incident,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Wednesday.
Joint operatives from the Customs Intelligence and Investigative Services, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency raided a warehouse owned by Philippine Hongfei Logistics Group of Companies, Inc. in Valenzuela City on May 26, 2017.
The Bureau of Customs discovered and seized the shabu, according to field investigators, but the manner through which the discovery and seizure were made “leaves much to be desired,” the Ombudsman said.
“Evidence suggests that numerous laws and administrative issuances pertaining to the proper search, seizure, handling, and controlled delivery of drugs were violated by the public officers,” the anti-graft body added. (With Prince Golez/PN)
