Duterte tells Faeldon to take a rest

August 28, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte has advised Nicanor Faeldon who quit as the commissioner of the Bureau of Customs amid corruption allegations in the agency, to take a rest.

In an interview at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Monday, Duterte reiterated  it was Faeldon who insisted he would leave his post.

"He resigned thrice. I said, 'okay.' He volunteered himself to leave and he was insisting that, 'to remove the issue against me'," he said, quoting Faeldon.

Duterte's allies in Congress called for Faeldon's resignation after the P6.4-billion worth of shabu managed to pass the Customs' check last May. The illegal drugs were only discovered days later in a warehouse in Valenzuela City.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have been conducting separate probes on the issue, which also dragged the name of presidential son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, who was allegedly involved in a smuggling syndicate in the BOC. The younger Duterte has denied the allegation.

Duterte, on the other hand, has said that he would quit if any member of his family would be proven to have engaged in corruption.

"I told him (Faeldon) to take a few days off. We will talk about everything after that. You should take a rest for a while," Duterte said.

Duterte said he took time to accept Faeldon's resignation because as a respect to the embattled BOC chief he wanted Congress to finish first the investigation.

However, Duterte accepted the resignation even if separate probes by the House of Representatives and the Senate, have not yet been concluded.

"Anyway, I told him (Faeldon) to just lay off," he said.

Duterte earlier said he might appoint Faeldon to another government post. Celerina Monte/DMS