MANILA, Philippines — Nicanor Faeldon on Monday filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Panfilo Lacson after the lawmaker last month accused the resigned Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief of being among those benefitting from the systemic corruption at the agency.
Faeldon, who continues to refuse testifying about the tara system and drug smuggling at the BOC, remains confined at the Senate in Pasay City but was allowed to get out of his detention room for some minutes to file his complaint against Lacson.
In his privilege speech last August, Lacson said Faeldon “should’ve stood firm” against the tara system at the bureau “even if he’s alone” but “instead of going against the system, siya ang kinain ng sistema [he was the one eaten by the system].”
Among the payolas supposedly received by Faeldon after he was appointed BOC chief last year was a “welcome pasalubong” of P100 million, according to the lawmaker.
The former BOC commissioner on Monday said there was no truth to the allegations being hurled against him by Lacson and that the lawmaker could not use these lies to malign a Senate resource person like him.
Faeldon also asked if Lacson was attacking him to protect the interest of the lawmaker’s son. He challenged Lacson to show evidence that he had a hand in corrupt activities at the BOC.
Earlier, Faeldon accused Lacson’s son of allegedly smuggling billions of pesos worth of cement by undervaluing freight costs. He also insinuated that Panfilo “Papi” Lacson Jr. and his firm Bonjourno could be “fronting” for the senator.
Faeldon said Lacson Jr.’s firm was among the 600 importers he suspended and that he personally knew of four shiploads of cement last year — three in July, within his “first 12 days in office,” worth more than P100 million, and one in October — whose freight cost the senator’s son allegedly undervalued by at least 50 percent, declaring $8 a metric ton when the prevailing cost was between $16-20.
READ RELATED STORY: WERE CASES FILED? | Faeldon already alerted early on about Lacson son’s firm, other companies with allegedly undervalued imports
Another ethics complaint will be filed by Faeldon against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on September 25.