Faeldon back in Senate custody after oath-taking

FORMER Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon was back in Senate custody after he took his oath on

Tuesday as deputy administrator Defense (OCD) in Camp Aguinaldo, headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Faledon was released temporarily upon the order of Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon.

It was the second time this month that he was allowed to temporarily on January 12 to visit his wife who had given birth to their youngest child.

Faeldon returned to the Senate past 10 a.m. after taking his oath administered by Defense Secretary

- ate since September 2017 because of his continued refusal to attend the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation of the P6.4- billion shabu shipment from China.

Faeldon was the Bureau of Customs chief when the illegal drugs arrived in the country and were released undetected by the bureau.

OCD spokesman Romina Marasigan said Faeldon took his oath in a “very simple and short” ceremony at 8 a.m. before OCD Administrator Ricardo Jalad and OCD deputy administrator Kristoffer James Purisima.

“Currently, we are making ar waiting for details. Like what I said OCD really means and I’m sure he has already heard of what we are doing but he would have to have an in- depth appreciation of it,” Marasigan told reporters.

Purisima, meanwhile, said it was “high time” for the post of the OCD deputy for operations to be occupied “given that operations services are vital especially in ongoing disaster operations for prevailing weather disturbances and Mayon Volcano.”

The position of deputy administrator for operations was created in 2016 as part of the OCD’s expansion to address “growing demands” of the country’s civil defense and disaster management programs.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Faeldon to the OCD in December last year, drawing criticisms from several senators who had participated in the investigation on the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu into the country.

Faeldon was held by the Senate after he was ordered arrested by Gordon for committing contemptuous acts by not attending the investigation set by the blue ribbon committee.

The issue of the shabu shipment prompted him to resign from his post as chief of the Bureau of Customs while denying allegations of corruption hurled against him.