CUSTOMS Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Friday criticized the House of Representatives for conducting a congressional hearing on the P6.5- billion shabu shipment and the “imbecile” House speaker, saying the issue was raised after he and his chief of staff turned down a request from a congressman to promote a Customs employee.
“The issue against Atty. Anderson and to the BoC may have risen from the promotion of one of the BoC employees,” Faeldon said in a statement.
“It happened sometime in May when Atty. Mandy Therese Anderson and I turned down a favor from a congressman to grant the promotion of this employee. However, it did not materialize as the employee was not qualified for the position.
“I would like to clarify the issue that came out during the congressional hearing with respect to the Facebook post of Atty. Mandy Therese Anderson, the chief executive assistant of the Bureau of Customs.
“I would like to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed by Atty. Anderson on her Facebook account are solely hers and does not represent the views of the Bureau of Customs. The BoC does not have any inclination towards any of the politicians but we only follow the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte”•that is to have an honest, clean and corrupt-free Bureau of Customs.
“I acknowledge that Facebook is a social media platform readily accessible to the public. I am not condoning the action of my Chief of Staff but Atty. Anderson is entitled to her own opinion.
Faeldon said that, as a public servant, he believed that their loyalty should always be to the public and not for anyone else.
“The BoC is now observing a more stringent process of promotion and we will adhere to it. This is no longer the time to promote employees based on recommendations alone. Promotion must be based on qualifications and performance,” Faeldon said.
“In fact, this employee has been promoted several times for the past years but other employees have been with the bureau for five, 10 and 20 years were not promoted. I want to be fair.”
Faeldon said Duterte himself had asked him to reform the bureau, and he believed that hiring skilled and competent employees who had the highest moral decency and integrity was vital in this transformation.