BOC chief skips Senate probe into P6.4-B shabu shipment

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon (Photo By Presidential Communications Operations Office – Presidential Communications Operations Office (Immediate: [1]), Public Domain)

MANILA, Aug. 9 — Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon was absent during the second Senate hearing into the reported PHP6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment from China seized in Valenzuela City last May.

In a letter to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, Faeldon said that his current “health condition” did not permit him from attending the probe.

On Monday (August 7), Faeldon said that he started feeling discomfort in his chest and was later diagnosed with “non-ST elevation myocardial infarction acute coronary syndrome; hypertension urgency hypertension stage II.”

He said that he was eventually confined at the Manila East Medical Center until Tuesday (August 8).

BOC Deputy Commissioner Edward Buco took Faeldon’s place as the proxy.

Faeldon recently made the headlines for his alleged involvement in the illegal drug shipment which was discovered in a warehouse in Valenzuela City based on a tip coming from Xiamen Customs.

Members of the House of Representatives earlier called for Faeldon’s resignation for allowing the shipment to slip through the BOC.

President Rodrigo Duterte, however, expressed his trust in Faeldon even as lawmakers demanded his resignation.

The President said that he will await the results of the ongoing congressional investigations.

(PNA)