Headline
DOJ to issue lookout order vs Faeldon et al on drug raps
MANILA— The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to issue a lookout bulletin order (LBO) against former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and 11 other respondents in the complaint filed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
This is in connection with the PHP6.4-billion shabu shipment seized in two warehouses in Valenzuela City last May 26.
The DOJ panel headed by Assistant State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes already started the preliminary investigation last Oct. 5 where Faeldon and other former Customs officials appeared.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the move is to make sure Faeldon and the other respondents would not evade criminal proceedings.
“Since the preliminary investigation is already ongoing. We will issue the LBO if the cases would be filed in court,” the Justice Secretary said.
“Since they are participating in the PI (preliminary investigation), we can take that as a guarantee that they will not evade the criminal proceedings. If they say they are confident that they will be absolved, then there’s no need to hide,” he stressed.
Aguirre said he would wait for the conclusion of the PI by the investigating panel of prosecutors, believing the respondents have no reason to go into hiding at this point.
An LBO will not automatically prevent the subjects from leaving the country – unlike a hold departure order issued by trial courts – but it will require them to ask permission first from the DOJ before they can be allowed to leave the country.
Should the DOJ find probable cause in the string of charges against the former BOC officials and file the case in court, Aguirre said prosecutors could then ask for issuance of the HDO.
Meanwhile, one of the respondents, former Customs Investigation and Intelligence Service chief Neil Anthony Estrella publicly said in a recent forum that they would not allow themselves to be jailed over the baseless charges and would rather go into hiding.
Estrella, however, clarified that they would not go into hiding and vowed to face the charges even in case they would be filed in court.
Aside from Faeldon and Estrella, former BOC director Milo Maestrecampo; intelligence officers Joel Pinawin and Oliver Valiente; Manila International Container Port district collector lawyer Vincent Phillip Maronilla; Faeldon‘s fiancé, lawyer Jeline Maree Magsuci; and BOC employees Alexandra Ventura, Randolph Cabansag, Dennis Maniego, Dennis Cabildo and John Edillor were accused of conspiring to import illegal drugs and coddling drug traffickers under Republic Act (RA) No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
They were also charged with obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree No. 1829 by “harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape” of the persons behind the shabu shipment, as well as negligence under Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code.
The PDEA also charged them with violation of the Anti-Graft Law for allegedly “causing any undue injury to any party, including the government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”
In the same complaint, the PDEA filed illegal drug importation charges under RA 9165 against alleged importers and facilitators of the shabu shipment – Chen Ju Long, Chen Rong Juan, Manny Li, Kenneth Dong, Mark Taguba II, Teejay Marcellana, Eirene May Tatad, Emily Dee, Chen I-Min and Jhu Ming Jyun.
It also included in the charge sheet the directors and officers of Hong Fei Logistics Inc., the warehouse where the shabu shipment was seized – Genelita Arayan, Dennis Nocom, Zhang Hong, Rene Palle, Richard Rebistual and Mary Rose dela Cruz.
The panel of prosecutors set Oct. 19 as the deadline for the respondents to file their respective counter-affidavits.
PDEA’s complaint is separate from the complaint for drug smuggling filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against the importers and brokers of the shipment, which is already undergoing preliminary investigation before the DOJ.
The two separate complaints have been consolidated by the DOJ.
