MANILA, Philippines – The son and namesake of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon has been cleared of involvement in a raided illegal drugs den.

This was confirmed to Rappler by Bicol police regional director Chief Superintendent Arnel Escobal on Sunday, December 23, saying the case was dismissed at the fiscal level.

“I was informed by Naga CPO (City Police Office) that the Prosecutor’s office in a resolution dismissed the case filed against Faeldon Jr,” Escobal said in a text message.

Nicanor Faeldon Jr was earlier charged by Bicol cops of visiting and maintaining an illegal drugs hideout after he was found in a Naga City house which yielded suspected sachets of shabu (methamphetamine).

Police did not list Faeldon Jr as the main subject of the search warrant, but his presence and proximity to the crime scene linked him to the crime. He was apparently dating the daughter of the main suspect, Russel Lanuzo.

Prior to the dismissal of the drug case, Faeldon Jr tested negative of illegal drugs.

The apprehension of Faeldon Jr caused a stir in the Duterte administration as his father had stood as one of the main characters in another drug-related controversy: the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that passed through a Manila port during his time as Customs chief.

Faeldon resigned from the Customs bureau at the height of the controversy, but was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as an official at the Office of Civil Defense under the Department of National Defense, then as chief of the BuCor.

Faeldon, a retired Marine captain, has repeatedly denied any attempts at influencing the police investigation into his son’s case. – Rappler.com