No reshuffle this early at BOC

There will be no major changes in the ranks and rules at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) during the early months of the year, newly installed Commissioner Napoleon Morales disclosed yesterday.

Morales said he plans to hit the ground running, declaring there will be no reshuffle of assignments among Customs officials, collectors and employees this month.

"There will be no changes in the bureau as far as positions and regulations are concerned. The first thing we will do is to require all district collectors of the agency to submit a yearend report so we could assess the bureau’s performance last year," Morales stressed.

He said old regulations in the bureau would be kept for the meantime while he is assessing their effectiveness: "We will continue with these regulations and find ways to even enhance them."

The new Customs chief explained that the report on the agency’s collection last year would be integral in his strategic plans for achieving their P192-billion target collection for the fiscal year.

Morales also stressed reports from collectors would confirm the claim made by his predecessor Deputy Commissioner Alexander Arevalo that the BOC has met its target collection of P151 billion in 2005. He earlier revealed that the bureau under Arevalo’s leadership fell short by some P10 billion in meeting the target revenue.

Another focus of Morales’ administration for the first month would be the proper classification and valuation of products in all districts of the bureau in the country.

"I want to know what kind of items are passing through our ports for us to monitor the valuation and be able to meet our target revenue," Morales said.

According to Morales, there is no need for new rules in the bureau, believing that "all necessary laws and regulations, structures and procedures as well as the effective Customs system that can ensure the fulfillment of goals, are already in place and in operation."— Edu Punay