President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon as deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.

Faeldon's appointment paper was signed on December 22. He replaced Rodolfo Demosthenes Santillan.

Faeldon resigned from the Bureau of Customs following corruption allegation in the agency, particularly after the discovery of the P6.4 billion worth of smuggled illegal drugs from China last May.

Duterte's son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his son-in-law Maneses Carpio, husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, were also dragged into the controversy. The two denied the allegation.

Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV hit Faeldon's appointment to a new post, saying his former co-mutineer was a sacred cow.

"Faeldon knows the dark secrets of the Duterte family that's why, even if he is grossly incompetent, he remains a sacred cow," he said in a statement.

However, ANC reports that Faeldon is still in detention at the Senate for contempt charges. Celerina Monte/DMS