(Eagle News) — “Preposterous.”
This was how Senator Richard Gordon described on Friday former Customs Chief Nicanor Faeldon’s allegations he was being deprived of “water, power and visitation rights” during his detention in the Senate.
According to Gordon, depriving Faeldon of these would be “beneath” his “dignity” and of the committee” in the first place.
Gordon is chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee that held hearings on corruption in the BoC and on the P6.4-billion shabu shipment mess in May.
It was also him who asked that Faeldon be cited in contempt and be detained following his subsequent refusal to attend the panel’s hearings.
Gordon, however, admitted he denied Faeldon’s request to be allowed to “hear mass, have a checkup with his cardiologist supposedly in preparation for his attendance in the Black Nazarene’s traslacion,” and to meet Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at the Department of Defense headquarters without being accompanied by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms to talk about his recent appointment as deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
The senator admitted he also denied the subsequent request of Faeldon’s lawyer for the former Navy man to take his oath before Lorenzana at the DND headquarters.
But according to Gordon, the denial was because of several valid reasons.
For one, he said allowing Faeldon to leave without the OSAA would mean the former Navy man was being released “without his having to cleanse himself of the contumacious conduct, the very reason why he was detained.”
He said there were also security concerns about Faeldon attending the traslacion, “what with the hundreds of thousands or maybe even a million people attending the Black Nazarene event.”
He said he offered Faeldon alternatives instead.
Gordon said he told Faeldon that he could instead attend masses held in the Senate at 12 noon from Monday to Thursday, if what he needed was to attend mass.
He said he also suggested that Faeldon take his oath as OCD deputy administrator “in the premises of the Senate so he could be assured of his safety.”
“Capt. Faeldon had previously made requests (to) the chair i.e. celebrate with relatives his father’s birthday, and another family event inter alia. The chair accommodated his requests for humanitarian considerations and because his security was ensured by the family events being held within the Senate premises,” Gordon noted.
https://youtu.be/YzfXrXNmGxc
