MANILA -- Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said it will be up to the Senate whether to endorse placing Deputy Customs Collector Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang under the government's witness protection program (WPP).
"I have not seen the application (of Mangaoang). Subject to the Senate President’s (Vicente Sotto III) approval upon recommendation of Sen. (Richard) Gordon, I may consider her for provisional coverage under WPP in the meantime," Guevarra told reporters in connection with the supposed plea of the customs official to be admitted as a state witness.
Mangaoang has insisted that the shipment of magnetic lifters found in a Cavite warehouse contained illegal drugs when it slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
She made the statement during the House dangerous drugs committee's inquiry into the PHP6.8-billion alleged shabu shipment controversy.
Mangaoang, former X-ray division chief of the BOC, disclosed the X-ray images indicated something was inside the magnetic lifters. (PNA)
