PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed former officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

Mr Duterte signed on Tuesday, Feb. 6,

The appointment papers of former PDEA-Region 1 director Jeoffrey C. Tacio and former PDEA-Region 11 director Adzhar A. Albani, who are both appointed Director III of the customs bureau.

Also appointed were former Philippine National Railways (PNR) director Noel Patrick S. Prudente as Deputy Commissioner, Fernandino A. Tuason as Director II, and Yogi Felimon L. Ruiz as Director III.

Mssrs. Tacio, Albani, and Prudente will respectively replace Milo Maestrecampo, Neil Anthony Estrella, and Gerardo Gambala who were implicated in the shipment of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs from China last year.

The BoC is headed by former PDEA director-general Isidro S. Lapeña who replaced Nicanor E. Faeldon in August last year, amid corruption charges hounding the latter as raised by Senator Panfilo M. Lacson.

Mr. Faeldon is currently detained at the Pasay City Jail for his refusal to cooperate with a Senate inquiry on the bureau. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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