BY: Ben R. Rosario
Dirt dug up by foes of Bureau of Customs chief of staff Mandy Mercado Anderson will not be ignored by the House of Representatives but neither will be given priority by the chamber’s leaders as they vowed not to be sidetracked by the lady lawyer’s antics in their probe of the P6.4-billion illegal drug smuggling in her agency.
After Anderson gained instant popularity for calling House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as “imbecile” in a Facebook post, the House was swamped with feeds of her share of alleged misconduct as a lawyer.
Anderson also insinuated that the BoC may have invited the ire of Alvarez because Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon turned down the Speaker’s recommendation for the promotion of a protégé at the agency.
“Yes, I did. I sign so many recommendations each day sa dami ng nagpapatulong but until there lang,” the House leader said in response to Anderson’s media comments.
House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas noted that one such report is the “outrageous falsification” allegedly committed by Mercado and her colleagues of their attendance to the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education that directs all lawyers to take up once every two years to update them on laws and other developments in the legal profession.
Fariñas stressed that the congressional probe into the R6.4-billion drug smuggling that took place right under the noses of BoC men is the object of the House’s concentration.