Senators Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and Franklin Drilon maintained that President Duterte should appoint persons with unblemished reputation and not those involved in past anomalies, if he’s really serious in eradicating corruption in his administration.
Faeldon resigned as Customs Commissioner after he was implicated in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China into the port of Manila.
“While we respect the President’s prerogative to appoint personalities to positions he deems fit, he must avoid appointing those with questionable integrity and moreso those linked to corruption scandals. The Filipino people need honest men in government service,” said Pangilinan.
Sen. Aquino stressed that Duterte should have waited for legal processes to finish in Faeldon’s case before appointing him to his next post.
“Ibinasura man ng Department of Justice ang kaso laban kay Faeldon, subalit naghain na ng apela ang mga karampatang ahensiya tulad ng PDEA kaya dapat pinatapos muna ito ng Pangulo,” said Sen. Aquino.
Drilon, for his part, said appointing officials involved in previous anomalies to another position will send a negative message to other members of the bureaucracy that those close to the powers-that-be are rewarded despite their corrupt ways.
Earlier, Drilon said that President Duterte also appointed the other former Customs officials implicated in the shabu smuggling scandal to other positions.
Customs collector Vincent Philip Maronilla was recently reassigned as district collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), while former Customs officials Gerardo Gambala and Milo Maestrecampo were appointed to the Department of Transportation in different capacities.
Maronilla was the head of the Manila International Container Port (MICP) when 604 kilograms of shabu from China entered the country through MICP last May while Maestrecampo and Gambala were holding key positions at the Bureau of Customs when the smuggling occurred.