By Mario M. Banzon

DETAINED former Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon will file an ethics complaint against Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Monday, Sept. 18. He is also preparing another ethics case for Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV to be filed on Sept. 25.

In an interview with reporters on Friday, Sept. 15, at the Senate, Mr. Faeldon’s lawyer, Jose Diño Jr., said the grounds of the ethics case against Mr. Lacson would be calumny, abuse of right and privilege as a seating senator and serious misconduct.

Mr. Diño also cited as basis of the ethics complaint Mr. Lacson’s Aug. 23 privileged speech, citing massive corruption at the BoC and Mr. Faeldon’s allegedly benefitting from that corruption network.

In the said speech, Mr. Lacson claimed said Mr. Faeldon received a welcome gift of P100 million upon assuming his position as bureau chief.

“Opening portion pa lang, Sen. Lacson laid bare the basis or lack of basis of his privilege speech. Ang sabi niya (He said) the very loud whispers across the four walls of customs, ‘yun po ang sabi niya (that’s what he said), so alam na natin (so we know now), pardon the language, it’s garbage. It’s hogwash,” Mr. Diño said.

Mr. Diño also pointed out that 21 days after his speech, Mr. Lacson has not yet presented evidence or even a single witness.

“Our prayer (is) nothing less than…for the suspension of the good senator or (his) expulsion from…office,” Mr. Diño said.

Mr. Diño said Mr. Faeldon intends to personally submit his ethics complaint to Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, chairperson of the Senate Ethics Committee.

“Kasi po, pag may ipinaglalaban mo po (When you are fighting for something), you don’t fight with a proxy. Always remember any fight (by) Capt. Faeldon, he is a Marine, hindi siya lumalabas ng proxy (he doesn’t go by proxy),” he said.

Regarding Mr. Faeldon’s planned ethics complaint against Mr. Trillanes, Mr. Diño said: ‘Yung sa kanya, hindi po (As for him, it’s not about a)privilege speech, (but about) insinuations so hindi po pareho ng grounds (so the grounds aren’t similar). But we are carefully preparing it so that it will be substantial.”

Mr. Lacson said, in response, it is anybody’s right to file an ethics complaint against a senator.

“In fact, that was the advice to him by Senator (Richard J.) Gordon when he visited him in his detention place. The Constitution, however, is clear on the matter: ‘No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee thereof.’”

“Therefore, it is his right to waste bond paper and ink. Anyway, he has the money to pay his lawyers even if it’s tantamount to an exercise in futility and stupidity,” Mr. Lacson said.

Mr. Diño denied that Mr. Gordon had advised Mr. Faeldon to file an ethics case against the senator.

For his part, Mr. Trillanes said in a text message to the media: “That man (Mr. Faeldon) seems to not run out of gimmicks. But at the end of the day, he needs to face the committee and answer our questions.”

When asked if facing two possible ethics complaints against him will affect his role as senator, Mr. Trillanes said in a text message to BusinessWorld: “…I am confident that my colleagues will see through the pettiness of these cases and either dismiss or shelve them.”

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