FORMER Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon is back in government service months after President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him as the new deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
Faeldon quit as Customs chief after being implicated in the smuggling of P6.4 billion of shabu from China into the port of Manila. He replaces Rodolfo Demosthenes Santillan.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Isidro Lapeña took over Faeldon’s vacated seat at Customs.
While Faeldon came under heavy attack in Congress for mishandling the illegal shabu shipment, Duterte supported his first Customs chief and said the government needs him.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency had earlier filed a case against Faeldon and a host of other Customs officials for their complicity in the importation of illegal drugs into the country.
The Department of Justice, however, dismissed the complaint as the anti-drugs agency failed to clearly state the acts or omissions committed by Faeldon and other Customs officials that would constitute a violation of the law.