10 Customs men face ax

CEBU CITY — The House committee on good government has recommended 10 Customs officials and employees in Cebu to be dismissed from the service in connection with the disappearance of a vessel and its 18,000 bags of smuggled rice on Dec. 25, 2002 from the Ouano wharf in Mandaue City.

"No less than dismissal should be imposed on those found guilty in this case so that this would serve as an example to other Customs personnel," said Rep. Ruy Elias Lopez, chairman of the House committee.

Those implicated in the disappearance of M/V Great Faith include Roberto Sacramento, former Cebu district collector; Julius Villarin and Bienvenido Caluyo, both Customs policemen; Zosimo Cuasay, former Customs legal division chief; Rogaciano Ceniza, former Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) chief; Alexander Atienza, of the CIIS; Ely Gealan, CIIS special agent; Pascasio Aquino, Customs legal officer, Ronald Pasion, former Enforcement and Security Service chief; Jesus Presbiterio, ESS operations officer; Ernesto Echevaria, Customs special agent; and Santiago Maravillas, former Customs deputy collector.

In a June 4 report to the House of Representatives, the committee said they believe that these officials and employees, except Maravillas, are either guilty of "malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in the performance of their official duties and have acted in bad faith to the detriment of the government."

The committee instead commended Maravillas who, they said, was merely performing his duties and was instrumental in exposing the smuggling incident in Cebu.

"The committee believes that deputy collector Maravillas was not remiss in the performance of his duties. The committee believes that he was not part of the conspiracy that has abetted M/V Great Faith’s escape. He is the whistleblower in this case," the committee said.

According to the report, it appears that certain officers and their staff conspired to facilitate the vessel’s escape due to the following circumstances.

First, Ceniza, according to the committee, admitted that he had stopped assigning personnel to man the vessel on the first week of December.

Second, Maravillas was assigned by Sacramento as officer-in-charge of the Cebu port on Dec. 19, 2001 as the latter went on leave. Such designation was irregular since it had no approval from the Customs commissioner.

Third, on Dec. 22, 2001, Echevaria and Villarin, who were on duty from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on that day and from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., respectively, on the next day, failed to notice that the vessel made a bunkering of about 4,000 liters of diesel fuel, as stated by five crewmembers in their joint affidavit.

"The bunkering of fuel could not have been done unnoticed. An apprehended vessel cannot be expected to bunker fuel. The incredulous statements given by the personnel involved sound like parts of a script for a movie story," the report stated.

The committee further concluded that other Customs personnel who were implicated wittingly participated in helping the vessel escape, thus they may be charged either administratively or criminally, or both, depending on the extent of their liabilities.

The disappearance of M/V Great Faith sparked a controversy and paved the way for a congressional inquiry into the rampant rice smuggling in Cebu. — Freeman News Service