Faeldon sent to Pasay jail
MANILA — Former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon, who had been under Senate detention, was transferred to the Pasay City Jail on Tuesday noon.
The Senate blue ribbon committee ordered the transfer of Faeldon after he failed the committee's "contrition test," keeping him cited in contempt for failing to appear at a legislative inquiry into a P6.4-billion shipment of illegal drugs.
Faeldon was supposed to be transferred on Monday night, but supposed sanitary issues delayed the move.
His blood pressure also shot up following the hours-long hearing in the Senate on the P6.4 billion shabu shipment that slipped past through Customs.
Faeldon and Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, traded barbs during Monday's hearing.
Faeldon accused the senator of "monologue" instead of pursuing the truth behind the smuggling case. Gordon, meanwhile, said that Faeldon "showed no contrition at all" during the hearing.
It was Gordon who earlier cited Faeldon in contempt, and ordered his detention in September last year. Faeldon resigned from the top Customs post, but managed to bag an appointment by President Rodrigo Duterte to the Office of Civil Defense.
Faeldon, meanwhile, sought the Supreme Court for his immediate release from detention. He filed a 30page petition asking for a halt order on the Senate's arrest order.
In his appeal before the high court, Faeldon said that the Gordon-led committee has deprived him of 134 days of liberty, "which in any jurisdiction is neither a heinous offense of a non-bailable offense."
It remains unclear how Faeldon's transfer to the Pasay City Jail will affect his mandate as an official of the Department of National Defense.