Faeldon denies links to arms cache seized from INC compound

Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and his men may have provided security to expelled Iglesia Ni Cristo member Angel Manalo, but they were not involved to the huge cache of firearms seized inside the INC compound on Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City.

Lawyer Mandy Anderson, chief of staff of Faeldon, denied any involvement in the high-powered firearms and ammunitions found during a raid inside the disputed INC compound.

“He and his team were merely hired to provide security during that time (when he was not yet Customs commissioner). He has no knowledge of any seized firearms,” she said in a text message to media.

Anderson, who was recently designated as the new BOC spokesman replacing Neil Estrella, said that Faeldon vehemently denied what she described as “rumors” linking him to the confiscated firearms and ammunitions.

“The commissioner has no knowledge nor is he involved with anything connected to the Manalos or the INC,” she said.

Faeldon has been tagged by two former military men, identified as exstaff sergeants Jonathan Ledesma and Joseph Sabbaluca, who were earlier arrested by police.

Ledesma was arrested for direct assault with frustrated murder after he allegedly shot two cops during the March 2 raid

The BOC’s spokeswoman added that Faeldon is busy with his work as Customs commissioner.

Faeldon, one of the young military officers who staged the 2003 Oakwood mutiny against then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, just returned from his official trip in Suva, Fiji.

He attended the World Customs Organization 18th Regional Heads of Customs Administration in Asia meeting, where he met WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya and other regional heads.

They discussed issues on information sharing to hasten trade facilitation and curb illicit trade.