Pasaring ni Lacson kay Faeldon:“Holy mackerel! Welcome pa lang, may kita na. Corruption is like a snowball. Once it’s set a rolling, it must increase,’’

Ibinunyag ni Sen. Panfilo Lacson na tumanggap umano ang nagbitiw na si Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon ng P100 milyong pasalubong. Sa isang privilege speech, sinabi ni Lacson na nakain na si Faeldon ng sistema.

“Loud whispers in the four corners of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) compound tell of a P100-million pasalubong for the newly-installed commissioner,” sabi ni Lacson.

“A quarter of the pasalubong was retained as a finder’s fee by a certain Joel Teves, a middleman at the BOC,” ayon pa kay Lacson.

“Holy mackerel! Welcome pa lang, may kita na. Corruption is like a snowball. Once it’s set a rolling, it must increase,’’ sinabi ni Lacson sa kanyang privilege speech kahapon tatlong araw makaraang alisin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte si Faeldon sa BoC sa harap ng mga alegasyong hindi masawata ang kurapsiyon at drug smuggling sa Customs.

Ayon pa kay Lacson, ang ikaapat na bahagi ng P100 milyon, o P25 milyon, ay napunta umano kay Joel Teves, sinasabing middleman ni Faeldon, bilang finder’s fee.

“If in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) under a previous administration, you end your stint with the infamous ‘Good bye Pabaon’,’ at the Bureau of Customs naman, you start your stint with a ‘Welcome Pasalubong’,” dagdag pa ni Lacson.

“For the past weeks, I have been expressing my disbelief with President Duterte’s unusual calm and gentle reaction to the alleged involvement of his people in customs, to the massive volume of drugs that easily made its way to our controlled borders,” sabi pa ng senador.

“Nevertheless, after weeks of public outcry here, there and everywhere for the removal of Faeldon, President Duterte has finally acted and replaced him as customs chief, even for an ‘honest man,’ it is better late than never.”

Binanggit din ni Lacson ang 44 umanong nagbigay ng suhol mula sa pribadong sektor, 33 opisyal at kawani ng BoC sa Manila port at sa Manila International Container Port (MICP), at walong opisyal ng kawanihan sa central office, na aniya’y tumatanggao ng lingguhang payola batay sa sinisingil sa bawat container van na ipinapasok sa bansa, at nagbibigay ng preferential treatment sa “tara’’ (payola) system.

Sinabi ni Lacson na regular umanong tumatanggap ng tara si Faeldon at ang iba pang matataas na opisyal at collector ng BoC, kabilang ang mga dati nitong kasamahan sa militar.

Pinangalanan din ng senador ang limang “big players’’ na tumutulong sa paglalabas ng 390-490 container van kada linggo sa Port of Manila at MICP.

Ito, aniya, ay sina David Tan, “Kimberly’’ Gamboa, Teves group, Manny Santos, at ang Davao group na kinabibilangan ng broker na si Mark Taguba.