Paolo Duterte, Mans Carpio cleared in P6.4B shabu case; Faeldon faces raps

FILE: The Office of the Ombudsman’s special fact-finding team cleared former Davao City Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law Manases “Mans” Carpio in the P6.4 billion shabu (crystal meth) smuggling case. (PRIB Photo by Cesar Tomambo via Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

The Office of the Ombudsman’s special fact-finding team cleared former Davao City Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law Manases “Mans” Carpio in the P6.4 billion shabu (crystal meth) smuggling case, but recommended the filing of charges against former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and several others.

“The complaints against former Davao City Vice-Mayor Paolo Duterte and lawyer Manases Carpio were dismissed for lack of basis,” the Office of the Ombudsman said on Wednesday, May 2.

It was Senator Antonio Trillanes IV who tagged Duterte and Carpio as the big players in the so-called Davao Group involved in corruption at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

While the Ombudsman dropped Duterte and Carpio in the case, the investigators wanted Faeldon, former Bureau of Customs officials Milo Maestrecampo, Larribert Hilario, and Mary Grace Tecson-Malabed to face charges for the violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 3019.

It also recommended Faeldon and BOC Director Neil Anthony Estrella to be charged with additional violation of Section 32 of the Dangerous Drugs Act or violating regulations of the Drugs Board, violation of Section 3(a) of RA 3019, and usurpation of official functions or Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.

The same panel also wanted Faeldon and other Customs officials such as Joel Pinawin and Oliver Valiente to be administratively charged with grave misconduct.

Meanwhile, Tecson-Malabed and Maestrecampo will be slapped with gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct.

According to the Ombudsman field investigators, the criminal and administrative charges will undergo preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication, respectively.

“The BOC later discovered and seized the shabu but the manner through which the discovery and seizure were made leaves much to be desired,” the panel 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,” it added.

The special panel of fact-finding investigators was created last year to look into the illegal drug shipment upon President Rodrigo Duterte’s order for an independent investigation.

Given her connection with then-Davao City Vice Mayor and Carpio, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales took no part in the investigation, according to her office.

Carpio is Morales’s nephew. He is married to the Presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.