‘Faeldon’s OCD post a vote of confidence’

MALACAÑANG said Thursday former Marines captain Nicanor Faeldon, although previously implicated in the P6.4-billion shabu mess, still enjoyed President Rodrigo Duterte’s confidence—soon after he got appointed in the Office of Civil Defense.

“The appointment of Mr. Nicanor Faeldon as Deputy Administrator III of the Office of Civil Defense [on Wednesday] is part of the exclusive prerogative of the President,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

“The President is the appointing authority and Mr. Faeldon, with his new appointment, certainly enjoys the Chief Executive’s trust and confidence,” he added. 

Even if he is still under detention at the Senate, Faeldon can discharge his functions, Roque said.

From the Defense Department, Secretary Delfin Lorenzana welcomed the appointment of  Faeldon as deputy administrator, saying he “is honest” and “competent.”

“Nabakante yung Deputy Director III ng OCD (the Deputy Director (slot) of OCD III was vacant) and Undersecretary (Ricardo) Jalad was in the hunt for replacement. We did not request for Nick Faeldon, nevertheless we welcome him with open arms to  team OCD. He is honest, dedicated, and competent and he would be an asset to the organization,” Lorenzana said in Filipino and English.

The OCD is one of the attached offices of the DND tasked to formulate a comprehensive national civil defense and disaster preparedness program.

It will be up to Faeldon if he will appear in the next Senate hearings on the shabu mess, whom he accused of “partiality” and maligning him and other innocent resource persons.

Since Faeldon has not been convicted of any crime yet, he is not barred from assuming an appointive or even an elective position, Roque adds. 

The appointment came four months after the latter gave up his BoC post. 

Faeldon resigned as BoC chief in August at the height of a controversy over the entry from China of some P6.4 billion worth of shabu through the BoC. Lacson earlier sued Faeldon for economic sabotage before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Senator Richard Gordon launched an investigation into the shabu smuggling but failed to make Faeldon attend any of its hearings. 

Critics of Faeldon had accused him of being “primarily responsible for the lack of systems in deterring illegal drugs from coming through the ports of our own customs.” With PNA