Customs gets new acting chief

Napoleon Morales was sworn into office as acting Customs commissioner by President Arroyo yesterday amid a smuggling case filed against him.

Morales, a former Batangas Customs collector and head of the valuation reference information system of the Bureau of Customs, was inducted as Customs deputy commissioner by Mrs. Arroyo with his family witnessing the ceremony at Malacañang yesterday.

Morales will serve as acting Customs commissioner to replace Alexander Arevalo who was earlier appointed officer-in-charge by the President.

Morales was sworn in as the new deputy commissioner despite a smuggling case filed against him by Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Reyes, who formerly headed the national task force against smuggling and kidnapping, confirmed over radio dzMM that he had recommended the filing of technical smuggling charges against Morales but refused to comment on the new appointment.

Malacañang, however, insisted Morales had already been cleared of the charges by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said Malacañang had sought the clearance of Morales before he was sworn in to his new position.

"We issued a clearance yesterday (Dec. 21) because as far as the Ombudsman is concerned, Mr. Morales has no pending administrative and criminal cases before our office," Gutierrez declared.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said he heard of the allegations against Morales before the shortlist was submitted to Mrs. Arroyo.

But he said the Ombudsman had eventually cleared Morales of the charges.

Morales’ promotion to deputy commissioner makes him one of the strongest qualifiers for the post of Customs Commissioner. The position became vacant after Alberto Lina resigned along with then Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno and eight members of the Arroyo Cabinet on July 8.

In a statement released by Malacañang, Morales was said to have worked his way up through the ranks. He started as office messenger of the Bureau of Customs in 1968 and later on became Customs examiner, principal examiner, appraiser and principal appraiser.

In 2001, Morales was appointed district collector of the Batangas port and was promoted the following year as district collector of Manila. He was reassigned to head the Customs district in Batangas in 2004.

During his stint as Batangas Customs chief, Morales has been awarded most outstanding district collector for his excellent performance in revenue generation.

Under his stewardship, the ports of Manila and Batangas realized an accumulated collection surplus of over P7 billion, the Palace added.

It was learned that former Valenzuela City congressman Magtanggol Gunigundo III was being groomed to become deputy Customs commissioner. Other candidates include former Customs legal officer Gregorio Chavez, Malacañang’s Secretary for External Affairs Edgardo Pamintuan and former Reform the Armed Forces Movement leader Red Kapunan. — With Edu Punay