THE executive branch would not intervene in the ongoing investigation against former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon in connection with the P6.4-billion shipment of illegal drugs from China, MalacaƱang said on Tuesday, January 30.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the Palace was confident that Faeldon was competent to fulfill his mandate as deputy administrator III of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), despite his detention.
"We have never intervened in the legislative process," Roque told reporters in a press conference held in Marawi City.
"Again, he (Faeldon) was appointed to the OCD, which is a policy-making body. So our position is he can perform his task wherever he may be, even in jail," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Faeldon was transferred to the Pasay City Jail following the order of the Senate blue ribbon committee to cite him in contempt for his failure to appear at the panel's previous inquiries into the illegal entry of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
Faeldon quit as Customs commissioner in August 2017 following the shipment of over 600 kilograms of shabu from China that slipped past the BOC in May last year.
He was accused of receiving a P100-million bribe as Customs commissioner.
Prior to his transfer to Pasay City Jail, Faeldon has been under Senate detention for his refusal to attend the Senate blue ribbon committee's lengthy investigations on the smuggled shabu.
Faeldon's detention did not stop President Rodrigo Duterte from re-appointing him to a government post.
Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo denied asking Senate blue ribon commitee chairperson Richard Gordon to nullify the detention order against Faeldon in the Senate.
On Monday, January 29, Gordon said Panelo requested for Faeldon's release.
Panelo, however, said the Senate blue ribbon chair "may have misunderstood" his remark about his supposed advice to Faeldon to cooperate to ensure his release.
"What I told him is that I advised Faeldon to attend the hearing, if he is subpoenaed, and answer the questions of the Senate Committee so that he can be released and start with his new appointment," he said in a statement.
"He may have misunderstood me," Panelo added.
Panelo also clarified that he had paid a visit on Faeldon in his detention facility in the Senate to merely show his "sympathy."
"I pitied Faeldon because he has been detained for so long already. Hence the visit as a show of sympathy," he said.