(Update 11:44 a.m., Sept. 8) Resigned Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Nicanor Faeldon will voluntarily turn himself in to the Senate on Monday not to attend the probe on the smuggling of P6.4-billion illegal drugs from China but to have himself arrested.
鈥淏y Monday, I will got to the Senate and let myself arrested but I will not go there to attend the hearing,鈥� Faeldon said Friday in a televised press conference from his home in Taytay, Rizal.
鈥淵es, I will go to the Senate by Monday and let myself arrested but I will not go and attend the hearing. Pwede nila akong buhatin, paupuin dun (They can carry me, let me sit there) but still my position is I will not participate鈥︹�� he added.
Faeldon said he is willing to attend hearings conducted by 鈥渃ompetent courts, but not the two Houses.鈥�
鈥淢eaning any court in the world [that] will ask me dahil may kaso ako, I will attend and answer the questions,鈥� he said.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday threatened to cite Faeldon for contempt and have him arrested for his repeated refusal to appear before its hearings.
The Senate鈥檚 arresting team went to Faeldon鈥檚 house on Friday to serve the warrant of arrest but later ordered to pull out as the order would only take effect if he would fail to appear again at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday.
Faeldon has protested the conduct of Senate inquiries, wherein he was accused by Sen. Panfilo Lacson of accepting a P100-million bribe as 鈥減asalubong鈥� or 鈥渨elcome gift鈥� upon assuming his position at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last year.
The former commissioner was also accused of benefitting from the BOC鈥檚 鈥渢ara鈥� system, wherein he allegedly received regular bribes from smugglers.
He has repeatedly denied the accusations, saying that he is willing to open his and his family鈥檚 bank accounts to answer the allegations of corruption against him.
Faeldon has also challenged the senators to file a case against him so that a 鈥渃ompetent court鈥� could resolve the issues.
鈥淚nnocent persons like me have been maligned, destroyed, condemned by privilege speeches and some reckless pronouncements of these lawmakers,鈥� he said.
鈥淎no ba 鈥榯o? Kasangkapan lang ba kami do鈥檔 sa mga gusto niyo sa buhay? Eh paano na yung pamilya namin? (What is this? Are you just using us for your caprices in life? How about our families?)鈥�