President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued Executive Order No. 624 creating a Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) tasked to curtail smuggling, unlawful importation and other similar acts.
In his weekly briefing in Malacañang Wednesday afternoon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President has appointed Antonio Villar Jr. as Presidential Adviser (PA) for Anti-Smuggling and head of the PASG.
The PASG, which will be under the Office of the President (OP), is composed of elements of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Maritime Authority (MARINA), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), National Food Authority (NFA), and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
It has the power and function to apprehend, seize, investigate, and prosecute acts involving smuggling, unlawful importation, and other similar violations particularly of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.
The PASG will be assisted by a special team of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to expedite criminal and other cases of violations of Customs and other related laws and regulations.
The agency will have an initial annual allocation of P50 million from the President’s Contingency Fund and/or government savings. Subsequent appropriation would be incorporated in the annual OP budget.
At the media briefing, Ermita also bared the appointments of Silvestre Bello III as PA for New Government Centers; Rolando Pinero as Acting Commissioner of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); and Assistant Secretaries Clarito Mallillin and Oscar Valenzuela of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Also appointed were Marita Magpili-Jimenez as Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Department of Finance; Marcelino Tugaoen Jr. as Administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA); and Arthur Ty as Member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) under the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).