PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday vowed to resign should presidential son and Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte be found guilty of corruption charges, after his name was dragged into the House of Representatives’ inquiry into the P6.4-billion shabu smuggled through the Bureau of Customs.
“Corruption is really the one I don’t like, even my son, he’s dragged [into] Customs. I told you before, I’m telling you now again—if one of my children gets involved in corruption, I will immediately resign,” Duterte said in his speech at the ‘Sulong Pilipinas’ Philippine Development Forum at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.
“If you could find evidence against any of my sons and daughter, I will press charges… and I will see the luxury of going down,” he added.
The lead witness in the ongoing House probe into the smuggling issue at the BO—Customs broker Mark Taguba—dropped Vice Mayor Duterte’s name claiming the President’s son was involved in the transactions of a certain “Davao group” at the Customs bureau in Davao City.
Vice Mayor Duterte’s name is being name-dropped by individuals he earlier implicated in the corrupt activities of the customs bureau—a certain “Tita Nani,” “Jack,” and “Small.”
In a statement released Tuesday, the presidential son downplayed the allegation against him, saying it was based on hearsay.
admitted his testimony against me was based entirely on rumors. Why would we entertain or believe a hearsay? One does not dignify lies with a response,” he said.
Meanwhile, two Chinese businessmen were jailed at the Senate for alleged importation of dangerous drugs as the National Bureau of Investigation said it was now ready to file charges against those involved in the P6.4-billion drug shipment from China smuggled into the country through the Bureau of Customs in Manila.
Temporarily held at the Senate detention facility are Chen Ju Long alias Richard Tan, Chinese citizen from Xiamen, and Manny Li.
They will be immediately transferred to the Pasay City Jail once their commitment order is signed by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.
Chen is the owner of Hong Fei Logistics with warehouse at De Castro Subdivision, Paso de Paz, Valenzuela City, where the 604 kilos of shabu were confiscated by Philippine authorities last May 26.
In related developments:
The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it would evaluate the eligibility of Customs broker Taguba, who blew the whistle in the alleged corruption in the Bureau of Customs, into the government’s witness protection program.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said they would determine if Taguba could be admitted into the WPP when they receive his application for WPP coverage.
“I believe there is basis for him to apply for WPP. But of course in order to do that, we have to assess his qualifications,” he stressed.
The Justice secretary did not confirm reports that Taguba already submitted an application for WPP coverage before the DOJ.
Senator Sonny Angara has urged the government to hasten the filing of cases against the people behind the illegal shipment of shabu worth P6.4 billion from China.
“What appears in this investigation [is that] a crime was committed but there are no criminals,” he said.
“Everyone knows there was crime committed and there are drugs involved, and yet no charges,” said Angara, vice chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee.
The BoC discovered the illegal drugs in Chen’s warehouse following the tip of the General Administration of China Customs. The contraband was concealed in five metal cylinders.
Li, also known as Li Guang Feng, is a friend of Kenneth Dong (Dong Yi Shen Xi), a Filipino-Chinese businessman, whom he asked for a broker to help Chen.
Chen and Li were among those summoned by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, investigating the questionable entry of the illegal drugs from Xiamen.
It was Senator Panfilo Lacson who told Gordon’s panel that Chen and Li should be detained for violation of Section 4 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
“Never mind the chain of command, or questions on the search warrant. We can just rely on the documents that dangerous drugs were imported and that Chen is the owner of Hong Fei,” stressed Lacson.
Under intense grilling, Lacson questioned Chen who picked up the shipment from China and to whom were they delivered.
While drug shipment came from Hong Fei in China and was received by Hon Fei in the Philippines, both owned by Chen, the latter, has maintained he has no idea on the consignee of the shipments.
He also denied the whereabouts of three other drug shipments.
“By this time, many are already using it [shabu],” warned Lacson, a former director general (chief) of the Philippine National Police.
To back up his denial, Chen said he had too many customers and clients and was not “hands on” in his warehouse operation.
He also decried the decision of the senators to put him in jail, saying it was unfair to him.
Speaking through an interpreter, Chen said it was unfair he was being accused of a crime despite his efforts to speak on the matter to help the local government in its investigation on the drug shipment.
Lacson blurted out at Chen, “you have been residing in the Philippines for 20 years. Is that not unfair to the Filipinos especially the youth who will be killed with these tons of illegal drugs coming here from China?”
Since the offense is malum prohibitum, Lacson dismissed the need for “many talks” in the case of drug importation which the senator said carried a penalty of life imprisonment since there is no death penalty in the Philippines.
Malum prohibitum is Latin phrase used in law to refer to conduct that constitutes an unlawful act only by virtue of statute, as opposed to conduct that is evil in and of itself.
While under detention, Lacson reminded Chen to think who are the principals of the drug shipment.
But Chen, whose father-in-law was a former member of the Bureau of Customs in Xiamen, maintained his innocence.
He said he was compelled to speak up to get protection because he feared for his safety and his life from members of organized crime syndicates operating in the Philippines.
Gordon, a lawyer, told Chen the law was exceedingly harsh, but that is the law in the Philippines that should be followed.
At the start of his questioning, Lacson slammed Chen, Lin and the other resource persons and witnesses for being evasive and telling lies.
Wilkins Villanueva of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency contradicted the hardline stance of Chen and Li that they have no knowledge about the drug shipment.
He said they both knew of the drug shipment based on the “packing list” that came from China, indicating the presence of the five cylinders.
He said that when the packing list was transmitted by Li to Dong, there was no mention of the packing list in the cylinders.
Chen even said he knew the shipment contained printing machines although he was informed by China Customs that illegal drugs shipment would be brought into his warehouse.
He recalled receiving a call on May 25 from Wang Zi Dong, head of the inspection department of Xiamen Customs, that the five insulator machines in the shipment contained illegal drugs.
China Customs also said the two Taiwanese who were behind the illegal shipment had been caught.
NBI Deputy Director Vicente de Guzman admitted they encountered difficulty in identifying the real culprits in the case.
They will file the charges by Friday or next week but refused to reveal the names of the respondents.
He said it was just last week or after two months of investigation when they established the identity of the final consignee of the illegal drugs.
Senator Francis Escudero confronted the NBI and PDEA if anybody had been charged in connection with the drug shipment.
PDEA said Fidel Aniche Dee, caretaker of Chen’s warehouse, was already in jail on drug charges.
Escudero said he felt sheer frustration over the government’s drug war when law enforcers had been killing small-time drug users and pushers, but were very careful on big time personalities involved in the ilicit drug trade like the P6.4-billion drug shipment.
He was dismayed that after two months, the NBI had yet to file charges aganst those involved in this huge shipment of illegal drugs.
