Lapeña blasts NBI for graft complaint over 105 missing containers

FILE: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Isidro Lapeña (Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Isidro Lapeña slammed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for lodging a graft complaint against him in connection with the 105 containers of tiles allegedly released with irregularities last March, saying that the agency did not reveal “real” perpetrators behind the plot.

“It is unfortunate that the NBI concluded its concluded its investigations on the case of the 105 illegally released containers from the Port of Manila without getting any statements from me,” Lapeña said on Tuesday, November 13.

“What is more unfortunate is that the NBI did not unmask the real people behind the illegal scheme,” he added.

The NBI, on Monday, filed its 35-page report before the Department of Justice (DOJ), recommending that the former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief be “charged and prosecuted” for violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act over the alleged irregularities in the release of the 105 containers of ceramic tiles from China, amounting to at least P69 million.

It also recommended that Lapeña should be administratively charged with gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct over the same matter.

In his statement, Lapeña said the illegal release of the containers would not have been found if it is not because of the 22 alert orders he issued against the shipments which involved a total of 119 containers.

“I know that this illegal scheme is possibly happening even long before I was placed in the Bureau of Customs. Under my watch, this modus was uncovered,” he stressed.

Lapeña said he already filed criminal cases against 53 involved individuals and that he already referred the case of Port of Manila District Collector to PACC (Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission) for “failure to observe relevant procedures that led to the unauthorized release of said shipments.”

“It is unclear to me why would NBI find negligence on y part when I was the one who alerted the containers. Based on existing procedure in the BOC, the release of containers from a certain port is the responsibility of the concerned officers of that port,” the TESDA director general noted.

Lapeña then hopes that the investigation to the controversy would find out the truth and those who conspired together to release the containers from the terminal.

Despite the filing of charges against him, Malacañang said Lapeña still enjoys the trust and confidence of President Rodrigo Duterte, who “promoted” him to a Cabinet-rank position amid the P11-billion shabu (crystal meth) shipment controversy at the BOC.

“We point out that TESDA Director-General Isidro Lapeña has the constitutional right to be presumed innocent,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

Panelo, however, stressed that Lapeña’s case is a proof that the government will not spare anyone from investigations, not even the President’s allies, who are involved in irregularities.

“No one, friends or political foes alike, is spared in our fight against corruption,” the spokesman said.

“The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has a mandate to fulfill and its action is proof that the President shall not shield those upon whom a shadow of doubt has been cast,” he added.