Faeldon’s appointment to OCD won’t free him from detention
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the new post given to former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon, who was embroiled in the 16.4-billion shabu-smuggling controversy under his watch, will not free him from detention at the Senate.
Pimentel, despite being a close ally of President Duterte, said yesterday that Faeldon’s appointment to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) will not pave the way for his release from the custody of the Senate.
Faeldon has been in the custody of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) since September 11 after he was
cited for contempt over his refusal to cooperate in the Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe on the smuggling of the 605 kilograms of shabu from China.
“The solution to a problem like contempt is to purge yourself of the contempt, not a new appointment or position in government. No effect po yan sa kanyang detention (It has no effect on his detention),” Pimentel told reporters in a text message.
Faeldon’s camp, on the other hand, has yet to comment on the Senate chief’s pronouncement. But earlier in November, they had reported that the resigned BOC commissioner has no intention of asking for his release even though the Department of Justice (DOJ) had cleared him from charges relating to the P6.4-billion smuggled shabu.
Meanwhile, Faeldon has thanked President Duterte who appointed him as OCD deputy administrator.
“Buong galang kong tinanggap ang hamon ng Pangulo na muling magsilbi sa bayan. Salamat po (I respectfully accept the President’s challenge for me to serve the country again. Thank you),” he said in a statement issued on Twitter Thursday.
He also thanked his new seniors, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and OCD Administrator Ricardo Jalad “for their warm welcome” for him in the agency.
“Makaaasa po kayo ng aking tapat, malinis at buong husay na paglingkod sa bayan (You can expect for my honest, clean at excellent service for the country),” he said.
Duterte trusts Faeldon
Malacañang said that the President has appointed Faeldon to a new post because he needs someone he could trust in an agency as vital as the OCD.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte still trusts the former marine captain despite his still unresolved issue with the Senate which held him contempt for not appearing in hearings.
“Patuloy pa rin po ang tiwala sa kaniya ng Presidente, at alam ninyo naman po ang appointment iyan talaga ay executive in nature (The President still trusts Faeldon, and you know already that the appointment is executive in nature),” Roque said over Radyo5.
“So ibig sabihin bagama’t may mga paratang laban kay dating Commissioner Faeldon, hanggang hindi napapatunayan, ang Presidente naman bilang abogado ay bibigyan siya ng presumption of innocence at binibigyan siya ng pagkakataon na manilbihan uli sa gobyerno (It only means that even if there are accusations against the former Commissioner, until proven, the President, as a lawyer, will presume his innocence and will give him a chance to serve the government),” he added.
Roque said the President believes that Faeldon is innocent as the former marine captain is a man of principle.
Appointment hit
But the Senate Minority Bloc said Duterte’s appointment of a man with blemished record is a defeat for justice.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon of the Liberal Party (LP) said the President should appoint persons with unblemished reputation and not those involved in past anomalies if he is really serious in eradicating corruption in his administration.
“While we respect the President’s prerogative to appoint personalities to positions he deems fit, he must avoid appointing those with questionable integrity and more so those indeed linked to corruption scandals,” said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, LP president.
Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV (LP), on the other hand, said Duterte should have waited for legal processes to finish in Faeldon’s case before appointing him to his next post.