Malacañang affirms dismissal of BOC officials

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the President has finally resolved the Bureau of Customs (BOC) issue involving dismissed members of the Run After The Smugglers (RATS) group, which used to be led by former deputy commissioner Gregorio Chavez, in favor of a top steel firm.

In a six-page resolution dated July 27, 2012 and signed by executive secretary Paquito Ochoa, the Office of the President denied all three separate Motions for Reconsideration filed by RATS group members Christopher Dy Buco, Edgar Quinones, Francisco Fernandez, Alfredo Adao, Jose Elmer Velarde, Thomas Patric Relucio and Jim Erick Acosta as respondents who, together with then deputy commissioner Chavez, were all sacked last Jan. 26, 2012 by Malacanang for “grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority and oppression, gross incompetence and inefficiency, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service” after multi-million extortion and harassment acts against Sanyo Seiki Stainless Steel Corp.

The dismissed officials were all slapped with accessory penalties of “cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification for reemployment in government service” after Sanyo Seiki Stainless Steel Corp. filed extortion and harassment charges against them before the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA).

The RATS respondents argued against their dismissal claiming that they are non-presidential appointees, thus the Office of the President has no jurisdiction over them.

It was clearly stated on page three of the Malacañang resolution that “the power of the President to discipline is not only limited to presidential appointees but also to non-presidential appointees who acted in conspiracy with the presidential appointee/s” stressing that Executive Order No. 13, series of 2010, transferred the powers and functions of the defunct Presidential Anti-Graft Commission to the Office of the President through the ODESLA.