Neil Anthony Estrella has tendered his resignation as director of the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) following the resignation filed earlier by Milo Maestrocampo, director of Import Assessment Services (IAS), amid the controversy over the P6.4-billion crystal methamphetamine (shabu) smuggling case.
In his resignation letter to President Rodrigo Duterte dated August 10, Estrella said he is resigning “in the spirit of delicadeza,” adding he hopes “it paves the way for an impartial investigation and leads to substantive reform in BOC.”
“I have realized over the past days that I will no longer be able to fulfill my duties in the manner we both desire. The sensitivity of my office and the methodology it entails have now been compromised by unnecessary publicity,” Estrella added.
The BOC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority in a May 26 raid in a Valenzuela warehouse seized the shabu shipment, dubbed as the largest haul of smuggled drugs in the country’s history.
Estrella earlier denied allegations by middleman and trucker Mark Ruben Taguba II that he was involved in corrupt activities.
The retired Marines colonel also emphasized that he had never participated, “and never would I participate, in any cover-up or bungling of an investigation for personal gain.”
In a separate statement, Estrella expressed confidence that he would redeem his name in the ongoing investigation.
Estrella acknowledged that after the intelligence information on the shabu shipment was relayed by counterparts from Chinese customs, he had committed administrative lapses in retrieving the smuggled shipment from the Valenzuela warehouses where the drugs were delivered after release from customs custody.
Asked if Duterte has already accepted the resignation of the two customs officials, both addressed to Duterte through the Department of Finance, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella in a press conference on August 11 said they have not yet received a copy of the letters.
Aside from Maestrocampo and Estrella, Taguba also tagged Intelligence Group deputy commissioner Teddy Raval, Manila International Container Port district collector Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla, and CIIS district intelligence officer Teodoro Sagaral as among those who allegedly received bribes.
BOC, in a media advisory on August 11, clarified that deputy commissioners Natalio Ecarma III of Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group and Gerardo Gambala of Management Information Systems and Technology Group have not resigned.
Abella reiterated that Duterte will not be intervening in the Congress investigation as “he will allow the process to unfold.”
He also said that Duterte did not order Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon or other customs officials to leave as it is “not the president’s style to tell people what to do.”
Faeldon did not appear in several Congress inquiries due to a heart attack. The customs chief on August 7 was brought to the hospital after feeling dizzy during a dental appointment.
According to a report submitted by the House of Representatives’ chief medical officer, Faeldon was diagnosed with “non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (heart attack), hypertension urgency, hypertension stage II, pre-diabetes mellitus, [and] dyslipidemia.”
Faeldon was in the hospital until August 10 and was advised to get bed rest for three more days.
