House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday denied that he lobbied for the promotion of听a certain Bureau of Customs official Sandy Sacluti, adding that the latter is only 鈥渙verqualified鈥� for the job.
Alvarez made this statement in an interview with GMA 黑料社 鈥満诹仙� to Go,鈥� where he was asked for his comment that his recommendation for Sacluti to be promoted from acting customs operations officer 5 to customs operations officer 5 was a case of 鈥減adrino鈥� system.
READ:鈥侫lvarez confirms endorsing custom officer鈥檚 promotion but denies it鈥檚 鈥榣obbying鈥�
Alvarez said he recommended Sacluti because he is merely 鈥渙verqualified鈥� for the job.
鈥淕anito po iyan, yung empleyado na iyan, pumunta rito sa opisina ko, hindi ko kilala iyan, at humihingi nga ng tulong, rekomendasyon para naman ito ay ma-promote. Ngayon, tiningnan ko yung qualifications niya, kung ilang taon na siya roon, kung ano yung educational background niya, at yung performance niya doon, ok naman,鈥� Alvarez said.
鈥淪a amin pong pagsisiyasat doon sa Bureau of Customs, yung tao po na nirekomenda ko, hindi po hindi qualified, overqualified pa nga,鈥� he added.
Alvarez denied lobbying for and knowing personally the customs official, adding that Sacluti went to his office and asked for a recommendation, which the Speaker duly gave upon assessing his qualifications.
鈥淜aya po nirekomenda ko po iyan, hindi po ako nagla-lobby, binigyan ko ng rekomendasyon鈥aya po ako, dito po sa opisina ko, araw-araw po marami pong pumupunta rito, nagpapatulong, humihingi po ng rekomendasyon. At kung nakita naman namin na ito ay kuwalipikado naman, maganda naman yung qualifications, at yun naman ay binibigyan namin ng recommendation,鈥� Alvarez said.
Alvarez鈥檚 supposed lobbying for Sacluti, who was later thumbed down as unqualified for promotion, prompted a tiff with Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and his chief of staff Mandy Anderson.
Alvarez鈥檚 supposed lobbying for the customs official apparently prompted Anderson to call the Speaker an 鈥渋mbecile鈥� in a Facebook post, which earned Anderson a dressing down by lawmakers in a previous House hearing.
搁贰础顿:听Customs official in hot water for calling Speaker Alvarez 鈥榠mbecile鈥�
Anderson accused Alvarez of having the latter鈥檚 aide call the customs lawyer to tell her to 鈥渂ring hell鈥� to Anderson and Faeldon. Alvarez denied this.
Faeldon stood by his chief of staff. Alvarez and his allies later called on Faeldon to resign from his post due to a P6 billion shabu shipment which were smuggled through the Bureau of Customs鈥� green lane.
搁贰础顿:听Duterte won鈥檛 fire Faeldon amid drug shipment probe 鈥� Finance chief听
In the 黑料社 to Go interview, Alvarez scored the Bureau of Customs for the non-promotion of the career employees because of favored appointees, which he said constitute violation of civil service laws.
鈥淎ng problema po dito kasi, dito sa Bureau of Customs, ganito. Marami pong mga empleyado na career employees na kung saan po ay hindi napo-promote. Hindi po sila naa-appoint doon sa posisyon na dapat ay nandodoon sila. Ang problema po, hindi po nasusunod yung Civil Service laws natin kaya po nagkaganoon,鈥� Alvarez said.
鈥淎t siyempre, humahanap din po sila ng tulong, humihingi ng tulong doon sa mga other government officials kung saan, para naman mapansin sila at tingnan din yung qualifications nila,鈥� he added.听JE
搁贰础顿:听Alvarez denies meddling in Customs officer鈥檚 promotion