BOC reshuffles 66 personnel

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has reshuffled 66 personnel in compliance with its policy to reassign personnel of ports that fail to meet their monthly collection targets, the agency said yesterday.

In several Customs Personnel Orders signed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, a total of 66 BOC personnel have been reassigned to various offices, including the district collectors of three out of five ports that missed their revenue goals last March.

One of them is Vener Baquiran, former district collector of the Port of Manila, which raised P5.776 billion last March or 14.9 percent below its P6.785-billion target.

The BOC said Baquiran has been transferred to the Compliance Monitoring Unit and was replaced by Erastus Sandino Austria, former district collector of the Port of Davao.

Export Coordination Division chief Romalino Valdez of the BOC’s Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group will fill in Austria’s position as district collector of Davao.

Former Manila International Container Port (MICP) district collector Balmyrson Valdez has been given a new designation as head of Legal Service of the Revenue Collection Monitoring Group (RCMG).

The MICP generated P12.625 billion in revenues last March, falling below its P13.917-billion goal for the period.

Valdez was replaced by Maritess Martin, who formerly headed the Port of Clark. Lilibeth Sandag of the RCMG was also reassigned as the new district collector of Clark, taking over Martin’s position.

“I have given Austria and Martin bigger responsibilities to head the major ports since they are consistently hitting their targets with huge surpluses since I assumed as commissioner,” Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said.

Meanwhile, the BOC said Wivina Pumatong from the sub-port of Mactan has been assigned as the new district collector of the Port of Iloilo, which collected P176 million, 27.8 percent lower than its P244 million target.

Lapeña clarified that the district collectors of the Port of Zamboanga and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which both failed to meet their revenue goals last March, will not be reshuffled yet as they only assumed office in the middle of last month.

NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan assumed office last March, replacing Vincent Philip Maronilla who failed to meet his port’s February target.

Maronilla, however, was appointed by President Duterte as assistant commissioner. Maronilla will head the agency’s Post Clearance Audit Group.

Lyceo Martinez of the Port of Zamboanga replaced Jesus Balmores for the same reason.

“Their revenue performance in April will determine whether they will stay in their position as district collector,” Lapeña said, referring to Talusan and Martinez.

According to preliminary data from the BOC’s Financial Service, the bureau collected P45.398 billion in March, slightly exceeding its P45.133-billion target for the month. This is 19.1 percent higher than the P38.11 billion collected in the same period in 2017.

For 2018, the BOC is targeting to collect P598 billion in customs duties and taxes, higher than last year’s actual collection of P458.2 billion.

Beyond control

Meanwhile, Lapeña yesterday said he was leaving the appointment of Maronilla to the wisdom of Duterte, saying it was already beyond his control.

Some netizens have reportedly criticized such appointment, as Maronilla was among those who were investigated and later cleared of having any involvement in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment.

“His is a presidential appointment, that is a presidential prerogative. At my level, I cannot answer; I know there is wisdom behind this decision,” Lapeña said.

“I will always support the action of the President because I know there are things at my level that I do not know the purpose why the President decided that way,” he added.

Raising doubts

For Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Maronilla’s appointment raises doubts about how serious the government is in cleaning up the agency. 

In a statement, Pangilinan decried how the allegations raised against Maronilla were swept under the rug by the Department of Justice and not thoroughly investigated.?“With an official with questionable integrity at the helm of the BOC, the public would find it hard to believe that the administration is out to purge corruption and clean the agency,” Pangilinan said.

Maronilla was head of the MICP when the shipment of P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China entered the country through MICP in May last year. – Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy