Gordon asks Duterte to reconsider Faeldon’s appointment at OCD

Senator Richard Gordon on Monday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider the appointment of Nicanor Faeldon as deputy administrator for operations to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Senator Richard Gordon on Monday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider the appointment of Nicanor Faeldon as deputy administrator for operations to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Gordon’s remark comes after a heated word war with Faeldon during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the controversial “tara” system at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

After months of staying in detention, this was the first time Faeldon surfaced before the Senate committee. Faeldon was a former Customs commissioner before Duterte appointed him to the OCD.

“I don’t think the President has any business appointing this guy. Ilang beses ba natin papatawarin yung nagco-coup d’etat dito? Ilang beses ba natin papatawarin yung mga naloloko, tumatakas pag nahuhuli (How many times should we forgive those who are doing coup d’ etat here? How many times should we forgive those swindlers, running away when they got caught)?” Gordon was quoted as saying in a GMA News report.

Faeldon was once part of the Magdalo group that launched flopped rebellions against the Arroyo administration in 2003 and 2007.

Gordon, who is the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said that the ex-commissioner seemed to live in “his own world.”

“I think he should see a psychiatrist. And I really mean that,” the Senator said.

“This guy held a position of trust into one of the most important positions that would generate revenue for the country and he flunked out,” he added.

Meanwhile, members of the Senate have unanimously agreed to move Faeldon from his detention at the Senate to the Pasay City Jail. The decision, reached in a caucus, was announced by Gordon on the floor on Monday.

The former Customs commissioner has been detained at the Senate building since September 2017 for constantly refusing to appear before the Senate panel’s probe into the smuggling of the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment from China in May.