Acting Cebu Customs head: I’m ready to vacate my post

CEBU CITY — Acting Customs district collector Santiago Maravillas, whom Sen. John Osmeña wants axed, said he is ready to vacate his post anytime if so ordered.

"I did my job in all honesty and I will be honest until I am removed. I did the job that was assigned to me. I will stop smuggling and, indeed, I will stop it as long as I am in this position," he said.

Osmeña called for Maravillas’ removal in the wake of allegations by six congressmen and Sen. Robert Barbers that he was involved in rice smuggling.

Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho refused to remove Maravillas, frustrating Osmeña who, as head of the powerful Senate finance committee, is expected to find other means to get what he wants.

Maravillas is reportedly a relative of Camacho but Camacho has denied this.

Maravillas said the allegations contradict his actual performance as district collector, a post he assumed in an acting capacity only last Nov. 5.

"Maybe he was just misinformed. I know Sen. Osmeña. I used to work with him. He is the type of person who does not want any anomaly in government," Maravillas said.

Maravillas, in the 25 days that he has been in office, can claim credit for at least 16 apprehensions of suspected smuggled shipments with the help of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Services and the Customs police.

The apprehensions were mostly of smuggled rice, whose total value was estimated at P30.8 million.

Another P3 million worth of smuggled used clothing and second-hand vehicles were also apprehended during Maravillas’ stint.

Maravillas was the deputy collector for assessment but was named acting district collector temporarily while the position remains vacant.

Customs Commissioner Titus Villanueva said he is still studying whether to replace Maravillas or not.

Osmeña wants Maravillas replaced by Roberto Sacramento, the very official he had replaced.

The day he was replaced, one of the last acts of Sacramento was to order the release of a ship, the MV Panda/Sarah, which was apprehended for allegedly carrying smuggled rice.

The following day, upon assuming office, Maravillas ordered the ship and its cargo seized again.

Meanwhile, concerned employees of the Bureau of Customs defended the bureau against Barbers’ call for its abolition, saying it "has been effective in going after smuggling syndicates."

Barbers wanted the bureau scrapped for being "the most graft-ridden and anomalous agency in the government."

Barbers said the bureau’s present leadership appears to be inefficient in going after officials and personnel of the agency who are involved in irregular transactions.

The employees, however, said Barbers could have been misinformed about the bureau’s accomplishment under the leadership of Commissioner Titus Villanueva.

The bureau earlier reported that it had collected a total of P78.5 billion in revenues for the first 10 months of the year, surpassing its revenue goal of P77.3 billion. — Freeman News Service, Cecille Suerte Felipe