Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 5) — President Rodrigo Duterte appointed former Manila International Container Port district collector Vincent Philip Maronilla, who was previously accused of accepting bribes in the P6.4 billion worth shabu shipment case, as the new assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Maronilla is currently the district collector for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

In August 2017, Customs fixer Mark Taguba identified Maronilla as one of the officials who accepted bribes for a 604-kilogram drug shipment from China, one of the biggest hauls of smuggled drugs in the country.

READ: Broker tags Customs officials allegedly taking bribe

Senator Panfilo Lacson also mentioned Maronilla as one of the recepients of "tara" or multimillion peso bribes in his privilege speech in the same month.

READ: FULL TEXT: Senator Ping Lacson's privilege speech on corruption in the Bureau of Customs

Maronilla denied the allegations. He said they were just following procedure in the release of the drug shipment that was tagged under the green lane, which signified that no documentary or physical examination was necessary.

He added that port officials were not the ones approving the release of shipments as these were already "pre-cleared" by the Customs' risk management office.

READ: Manila port collector on drug shipment: We followed procedure

The Department of Justice (DOJ) later dropped the charges against Maronilla and 13 other officials in November for insufficient evidence. The DOJ said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency failed to state the involvement of the accused BOC officials.

READ: DOJ drops charges against Faeldon, 13 ex-Customs officials

Senator Kiko Pangilinan weighed in on the appointment and said that the drug smuggling case tied to Maronilla "should not have been just swept under the rug" by the DOJ.

"With an official with questionable integrity at the helm of the BOC, the public would find it hard to believe that the administration is out to purge corruption and clean the agency," Pangilinan said in a statement.