The recent appointment of a former Customs official, who was accused by a self-confessed fixer as among those taking bribes, to deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Customs puts an anti-climactic conclusion to the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling scandal, which started as a scorching drama that threatened to expose the underbelly of the supposedly corruption-free family of President Rodrigo Duterte.
On April 3, the President signed the appointment papers of former Customs district collector Vincent Philip Maronilla, who was identified by Customs fixer Mark Taguba, the principal witness in the shabu smuggling case, as one of several senior Customs officials allegedly receiving bribes from him for the facilitation of huge shipments passing through the customs bureau.
Maronilla’s appointment completed the resurrection and promotion of ranking Customs officials implicated in the shabu smuggling scandal, who were placed on administrative leave or who resigned at the height of the congressional investigation into the case only to be reinstated or given higher posts a few months later.
Reinstated to their positions were Ariel Nepomuceno and Teddy Raval as customs deputy commissioners. Nepomuceno and Raval were among the BOC officials named by Sen. Panfilo Lacson as among those recipients of “tara” or payola (bribes) at the agency. Nepomuceno resigned again from his post last month, paving the way for Maronilla’s appointment.
In November, Duterte appointed two other senior Customs officials who resigned at the height of the shabu scandal to key positions in the Department of Transportation. Deputy Customs Commissioner Gerardo Gambala was named security director of the DOTr while Customs Director Milo Maestrecampo, who was one of those recommended charged by the Senate committee, was appointed assistant director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Former Customs Commissioner Nick Faeldon, who was one of several senior Customs officials charged in the shabu smuggling case, was appointed as head of the Office of Civil Defense.
All 12 key Customs officials charged in the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling case were cleared by the Department of Justice, then under the recently resigned Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III, along with six NBI officials who were tagged by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as those responsible for the release of the illegal shipment, and six officers of the Hong Fei Logistics, which owns the warehouse where the 600 kilograms of shabu were seized.
Guess who remained charged in the case? Taguba — who implicated all the Customs officials along with presidential son, erstwhile Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and a Davao City councilor – was left holding the bag along with nine other private individuals who probably played very minor roles in the scandalous transaction.
It is a clear travesty of justice where the accuser ends up being accused, and the accused getting appointments or promotions.
The case brought into serious doubt President Duterte’s promise to rid the country of corruption, particularly in the customs bureau. The President had promised to fire government officials even at the slightest hint of corruption.
Indeed, Duterte has fired several ranking officials, some of them his closest friends and supporters, on mere rumors of corruption, and yet reappoints and even promotes officials of an agency he himself pinpointed as the most corrupt in the government despite having been actually indicted before the justice department, recommended to be charged by the Senate, and positively identified by a customs broker involved in the deal.
And the government prosecutors didn’t even look into the claim of Taguba that the younger Duterte was involved in the smuggling of the 600 kilos of shabu. Something definitely stinks in this turn of events, and the DOJ prosecutors wouldn’t even take a second look at it.
In the meantime, Duterte is going hammer and tong to prosecute Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for allegedly misdeclaring her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Had the government used the same determination to prosecute those involved in the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling and the prominent drug lords implicated in illegal drug activities, perhaps corrupt government officials and criminal lords would be more hesitant to conduct their nefarious activities.
Two years after Duterte promised to clean up the customs bureau, it remains one of the most, if not the most corrupt, agencies in the country. In fact, a recent report by the Office of the Unites States Trade Representative, identified the customs bureau as one of the government agencies that keep corruption as a “pervasive” and longstanding” problem in the Philippines.
“National and local government agencies, particularly Bureau of Customs (BOC), are beset with various corruption issues,” the USTR said.
In June 2016, a few days before being sworn in as president, Duterte said: “Huwag na huwag talaga akong makarinig na (Let me not hear anything about) corruption, [not] even a whiff or whisper. I will fire you or place you somewhere.”
It was not just a whiff or whisper that he heard about the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling scandal. It was the sound of a gathering storm. And he failed – or refused – to hear it.
(valabelgas@aol.com)