(From left) Antonio Trillanes and Paolo Duterte

In his privilege speech to the Senate last week, Sen. Panfilo Lacson detailed the payola system, or “tara”, in which millions of pesos are used to pay off everyone up and down the Customs chain to ensure containers come in and out smoothly. For each 40-foot container, Lacson noted, BoC officials and employees could collect almost P80,000. Neil Estrella, the Customs director of intelligence allegedly uses his own bagman. Milo Maestrecampo, the import assessment officer, had his hands regularly filled with grease money, it is alleged. But at the head of the chain was the Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon. A Duterte appointee and loyalist, Faeldon ironically shares a lot of history with Trillanes. He was a former Marine, a member of the Magdalo group, and one-time coup plotter. He failed to appear at several hearings, wheeling out an impressive array of medical excuses. According to Lacson, Faeldon received bribe money to the tune of P100 million, an amount presented to him as a “welcome gift” when he assumed the Customs post. Faeldon too had his own bagman. When Trillanes asked him whether there was corruption in the bureau, he burst into tears.

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