Magdalo representative Gary Alejano and Senator Antonio
Trillanes in different occasions clarified that Customs Commissioner Nicanor
Faeldon is not an official member of Magdalo.
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| Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, with him Deputy Commissioner for Management Information System and Technology Group Gerardo Gambala (photo credit to PDI) |
The Magdalo group are the ones responsible for the Oakwood
mutiny in Makati, when 321 soldiers and several officers occupied Oakwood Premier apartment building in Makati City in
defiance to the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Alejano would not vouch for Faeldon,
claiming that he does not very well the latter. “I cannot vouch for him. He
should answer what he has to answer but I cannot conclude whether he is at
fault or not.” Alejano said.
“He was part of the Magdalo but we removed
him from the group when he escaped in 2005,” Alejano said. “It created a rift
between us but I was able to bring him back to the group as friends, not as
part of the group anymore.”
“I was the one who recruited him. We were
together in the Marine Corps. We were in the same battalion,” said Alejano, who
started at the Philippine Marine Corps in 1995.
The Magdalo representative also stated
that he and some members of the Magdalo where shocked last Presidential
elections that Faeldon would be joining the Duterte administration as his chief
of the Bureau of Customs.
Statement of Triallanes
Senator Antonio Trillanes in a press statement
affirmed that Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon was not part
of the Magdalo faction of the military.
Deputy Commissioner for Management
Information System and Technology Group Gerardo Gambala and Import Assessment
Division Director Milo Maestrecampo were former leaders of Magdalo but were
removed when they entered into a plea bargain agreement with the government in
2008.
The senator expressed his hope that the
various investigations, which they are now facing, would determine their guilt
or innocence.
Mistah connection
Both Alejano and Trillanes vouched for
Gambala and Maestrecampo.
“I know these people. They are good
people.” said Alejano.
Trillanes, noted that he knew “well
enough” that his classmates in the Philippine Military Academy, Gambala and
Maestrecampo, were not part of the syndicate that facilitated the delivery of
the PHP6.4 million worth of shabu.
Faeldon, still enjoys the trust and
confidence of president Rodrigo Duterte. The BOC commissioner has been in the
hot seat for allowing to past the
illegal drug shipment - 605 kilograms of shabu from Custom controls. The cargo was eventually
seized in a Valenzuela warehouse.
Some lawmakers are asking for his resignation.
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