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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Isidro Lapeña as Bureau of Customs head, replacing Nicanor Faeldon.
Faeldon – who had conveyed his intent to resign three times – was “very disappointed” with the Customs bureau, the President told reporters at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang Park.
“The Bureau of Customs has a rotten system. You need somebody to have a system there. A new one and a competent military man can do it, just like General Lapeña,” Duterte said on Monday.
“Kaya niya iyan. General Lapeña enjoys my confidence and trust, which is very important. Otherwise, we go back to the same old problem,” he added. “If he says there will be a massive reorganization, sa kanya iyan. It’s his decision.”
Lapeña’s appointment came in light of the recovery of P6.4 billion worth of shabu, smuggled into the Philippines from China, during a raid in two warehouses in Valenzuela City.
The Customs came under fire for having the estimated 605 kilograms of shabu – labeled as kitchenware and footwear – enter the country through its “green lane,” where shipments were not required to be weighed.
But Duterte said that he still believes in Faeldon, describing the latter as a “good and honest” man, and that he is still open to giving him a government post.
Police Regional Office 3 director Chief Superintendent Aaron Aquino will take over the PDEA. Aquino was previously appointed in Davao City, where the President used to be mayor.
Meanwhile, Duterte said outgoing Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año cannot assume as Interior department secretary until a year after his retirement.
The President named Año as Interior department chief in May to replace Undersecretary Catalino Cuy.
“Año cannot work as a secretary because there is a prohibition that he cannot be appointed because he’s a military man but one year after [sic],” he said.
Meanwhile, Duterte said, he will make the Armed Forces chief his “senior aide.”
“So, I need his services. Año would be under me. I would make him a senior aide of the Office of the President or whatever. Or undersecretary, if that is legally feasible. Ilagay ko lang siya undersecretary but he performs as officer-in-charge,” Duterte said. (Prince Golez and Philippine News Agency/PN)
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