By Meanne Corvera
Eagle News Service
The charges for drug trading against him may have been dropped, but a senator believes ex-Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, who is detained in the Senate for his refusal to attend subsequent hearings on corruption in the Bureau of Customs, will not be a free man just yet.
“I can see it going on for seven years. That’s what happened in one case,” Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the blue ribbon committee that conducted the hearings starting July, said in an interview on Thursday.
According to Gordon, “kung magsasabi lang siya na sige, haharap ako (sa hearing), sumagot siya, then I think he can go.”
Even then, he said the Department of Justice’s dismissal of the drug cases against Faeldon and other former Customs officials over the P6.4-B shabu shipment that slipped through the country via express lanes does not show “the complete story.”
He said it was “still premature in so far as the rest of the cases go.”
“The committee is still investigating the tara system. Thus, Customs officials may still be held liable (for) committing bribery and other laws under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act,” he said.
Maestrecampo, Estrella
In general, he said he disagreed “partly” with the DOJ’s findings.
He said that while Faeldon and former Customs official Gerardo Gambala “may have been absolved” from the importation of dangerous drugs case, former Customs officials Milo Maestrecampo and Neil Estrella must be further investigated.
“Based on the hearings conducted by the Senate, the evidence shows that Maestrecampo provided aid in allowing the shipment of drugs to enter the country front doors smoothly through the green lane. There is also evidence showing Maestrecampo’s involvement with Mark Taguba,” he said, referring to the self-confessed fixer who has admitted to bribing high-ranking Customs officials to get his shipments through.
“What about ..Estrella? he was the one who botched the seizure (of drug shipment) operations–facts pointed that (that was done deliberately),” Gordon said.