NAIA customs chief resigns after presidential scolding

A ranking Bureau of Customs official in charge of tax collection at Ninoy Aquino International Airport resigned from his post yesterday after getting a tongue lashing from President Arroyo due to low collection at the NAIA.

"You are on the watchlist," airport Customs district collector Celso Templo quoted the President as saying, meaning he risks getting the sack if he doesn’t meet his collection target this year of P13 billion.

He was summoned to Malacañang last Saturday, where he met the President and Customs chief Antonio Bernardo.

"He got a dressing down from the President for not improving his collection performance. He was decent enough to quit," a source told The STAR.

Another object of presidential ire that day was Manila port collector Reynaldo Nicolas, the sources said.

"Mrs. Arroyo was obviously not happy with the performance of the two biggest ports," they said, addding that Bernardo should share the blame for the poor performance.

Templo told reporters yesterday that he was taken aback by the presidential warning, saying he had been diligently doing his job.

He said he took it as Mrs. Arroyo’s "loss of confidence" in him and tendered his irrevocable resignation to keep "his dignity and pride intact." His resignation became effective also yesterday.

"It’s impossible at this time to meet our assigned tax collection target of P13 billion for this year," he said, citing factors which, he said, were beyond his control.

About P8.8 billion has been collected so far, Templo said, which he largely blamed on the country’s sluggish economy.

Many importers have stopped bringing in foreign goods because the high foreign exchange rate has made it more expensive for them to import, he said.

Reduced tariff rates on practically all imported goods also contributed to low collection, he added. – With Jess Diaz