The House of Representatives is set to conduct its own inquiry into the alleged smuggling of P6 billion worth of illegal drugs through the Bureau of Customs, which congressional leaders believe is the reason for the spat between an aide to Customs Chief Nicanor Faeldon and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

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The probe will begin on Tuesday, according to a statement from Surigao del Norte Representative Robert "Ace" Barbers, chair of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

"This is alarming. The chilling implication is that some Customs personnel, and even officers, could be in collusion with illegal drug syndicates with billions in their pockets to buy protection from corrupt officials," he said in a statement.

The Senate on Monday investigated the same incident, with Faeldon and other Bureau of Customs officials in attendance.

Barbers earlier said the news reports and the social media buzz on the recent hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means indicate a deliberate effort to distract public attention away from the real and pressing issues on the Bureau of Customs.

Lawmakers in that hearing confronted Faeldon’s aide, Mandy Anderson, for calling Alvarez an imbecile in a Facebook post.

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Anderson had previously said that the spat was because Alvarez was lobbying for the promotion of a favored official, something he denied.

PBA party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles said the contraband could not have been smuggled without inside help.

"This is not a black eye to the campaign of the president but a wake up call that all is not well in the Bureau of Customs and we will get to the bottom of this," he said.

House Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin meanwhile said that the entry of the shabu through the Customs' "Super Green Lane," which would not necessitate inspection and would fast-track procedure, "calls for proper investigation."

She noted that the shipment of shabu was imported by a newly registered importer from China and by a sole proprietor with 653 shipments in merely 3 months.

"All these factors should have qualified the importer under the red lane category and should have given red flags to customs officers. Records show that the goods were released within 5 hours from the time it arrived (it normally takes more than a day). No inspection in any form was done," she said.

For Ako Bicol Party List Rep. Rodel Batocabe, the incident "has not only a created a black eye but has beaten black and blue the fight against illegal drugs."

"There are intelligence reports that drug syndicates have already shifted to importation of illegal drugs through our ports rather than manufacturing the same in the country. And this incident was not the first of such importation," he said.

"Had this not been exposed, our country would have been flooded even more. The task now of Congress is to provide measures to plug this loophole and to recommend the prosecution of those customs officers involved in this new modus operandi," he added.