(Eagle News) — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday accused former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon of receiving monetary benefits amounting in the millions when he was at the helm of the Bureau of Customs.
“Loud whispers in the four corners of the (BoC) compound tell of a P100-million pasalubong to the newly installed commissioner…,” he said in an explosive privilege speech.
He said P25 million of the P100 million was “retained as finder’s fee by his middleman Joel Teves.”
He said the information was based on data provided by sources.
The information, he said, was “crosschecked and vetted.”
Lacson also discarded Faeldon’s agreement that while he knew about the tara system in the bureau, he was alone in the fight and could only do so much.
“Boohoo, tell that to the marines,” Lacson said.
According to the senator, “granting” that what Faeldon said was true, he “should have stood firm even if he was alone.”
“As head of the bureau, with the backing of no less than the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Commissioner Faeldon should have started the cleansing in the bureau by eliminating what has been corrupting the agency for so long, the tara system,” he said.
“Unfortunately, instead of going against the system, siya ang kinain ng sistema, thereby effectively tolerating and even promoting the impunity of corruption,” he added.