Malacanang expressed hope on Tuesday that new Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero would learn from the mistakes of his two predecessors where illegal drugs slipped past the agency.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement amid questions on why President Rodrigo Duterte kept on appointing a former uniformed personnel to the BOC after multi-billion peso illegal drugs managed to enter the country during the leadership of Isidro Lapena, a former chief of police in Davao City, and Nicanor Faeldon, a former soldier turned mutineer.

"The culture of the military men is different from the civilians. They follow orders, they talk less and argue less...they just work. And they're always on the go," Panelo said in defending Duterte's appointment of Guerrero to the BOC.

Guerrero retired as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff in December 2017. Prior to his appointment to BOC, he was the chief of the Maritime Industry Authority.

Panelo expressed belief that Guerrero would not commit the mistake of his predecessors.

"(Y)ou learn from lessons, from mistakes. So hopefully, Commissioner Guerrero would learn from the lessons or mistakes by the previous administration of that department has committed or has omitted," he said.

Faeldon quit as the BOC chief after P6.4 billion of illegal drugs had entered the country. He is now the head of the Bureau of Corrections.

Duterte removed Lapena at the BOC late last month after P11-billion worth of shabu allegedly slipped past the agency last August. Lapena is now the director general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Despite the entry of huge volume of illegal drugs in the country during the watch of Faeldon and Lapena, Duterte still trusts them as he expressed the belief that they were not involved in any irregularity. Celerina Monte/DMS