MANILA, Philippines — Saying he is satisfied with the performance of Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, President Duterte has denied appointing a new BOC chief.
A newspaper had reported that Duterte would name William de Jesus Lima, a special envoy to China, as Customs chief.
The President supposedly offered the post to Lima during a dinner hosted for Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian at Malacañang.
“No, no, no, no. We were just shooting the breeze, who are the capable guys to handle Customs just in case. But I’m satisfied with Jagger and he stays there,” Duterte said, referring to Guerrero.
While he is pleased with Guerrero’s performance in the BOC, Duterte admitted that the former military general needs to address some problems in the bureau, including corruption.
“There are still complaints about corruption. So I will talk to him about the people he should remove from the BOC. Some of them are lingering there,” the President said.
Guerrero took over the BOC post in October 2018. He is the third Customs chief under Duterte.