TROUBLE in the Philippine Bureau of Customs has been brewing for months.
In April, Pres. Benigno Aquino III sent feelers at a groundbreaking ceremony in Capiz.
According to a report from GMA News, the president said that “it’s only a matter of time when the administration will implement an extensive plan to weed out the bureaucracy of bad elements.”
That time has finally come.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address on July 22, Pres. Aquino berated the Bureau of Customs for incompetence, along with the Bureau of Immigration and the National Irrigation Administration.
Referring to customs personnel “who abetted the smuggling of goods, drugs and arms into the country’s ports” (as reported by Inquirer.net), Pres. Aquino said: “Where do these people get the gall?… One can almost hear them say, ‘I don’t care if the weapons go to criminal elements. I don’t care how many lives are ruined by drugs. I don’t care if our fields remain barren forever. What matters is that I am rich.’ It’s every man for himself.”
“Such practices have no place in the government. If you cannot do your job, you do not deserve to remain in office,” the president further warned.
“Instead of collecting the proper taxes and preventing contraband from entering the country, they are heedlessly permitting the smuggling of goods and even drugs, arms and other items of a similar nature into our territory,” the president added.
After Monday’s castigation, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon immediately submitted his resignation to Pres. Aquino, who did not accept it.
The president’s response: “Ruffy, we both know the difficulties in the agency you are trying to reform. My confidence in you remains the same.”
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed Pres. Aquino’s response to Biazon, stressing that “both gentlemen know the challenges as well as the limitations that are being faced by Commissioner Biazon in the (Bureau of) Customs, and that the confidence in the commissioner remains.”
“He (Biazon) is but one, and given that the problem in Customs is not that simple – that corruption is well-entrenched and has been endemic, and this is becoming systemic. This is one opportunity for the head of the agency to perform his mandate.”
“Commissioner Biazon knows what to do, and if we are to listen to the President, it is properly categorized as this is the shot across the bow already. This is already a warning.”
“The President was very explicit that his patience is running out with those whose agencies are not performing their mandate, who think that all of these will pass. We can’t sit this out. They are mistaken and, obviously, the President has his eyes on them…But, again, the President is also very cognizant of the challenges, as well as the limitations, that have faced the commissioner since the time he was appointed,” Valte further added.
Biazon thanked the president for his continuing trust and said: “Sometime in the near future I would hang up the gloves because sometimes you begin to think if this is all worth it. If all the effort you do, you put into it, is all worth it. If nothing would come out of it, why stay on?”
“I have a vision, I have a plan. But as far as staying in the bureau, I take it day-to-day. I would not shed a tear in losing the post. But I am really willing to fight for what I believe in.”
Meanwhile, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon (Ruffy Biazon’s dad) said that “the statement of President Aquino set Commissioner Biazon free, a signal for him to do what he has to do in the Bureau.”
“The President’s speech was an apparent declaration that the Commissioner enjoys his support in battling grafters. His attempt to cleanse the BOC of graft has been slowed down by several factors, and that includes influential people,” Rep. Biazon surmised further.
On Thursday, Customs Commissioner Biazon ordered all 17 district collectors and 37 subport collectors to leave their posts by Monday and that it was needed “in the best interest of providing service.”
Asked if he expects “powerful forces” to interfere with the revamp, Commissioner Biazon said: “I hope they would take it upon themselves not to intervene.”
“In the best interest of providing service, all districts and subport collectors/officers-in-charge of ports and subports are hereby directed to relinquish their current assignment or designation in writing, on or before Monday, 29 July 2013. This order is pursuant to Section 703 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended. All assignments or designations shall be considered relinquished upon acceptance or action by the undersigned,” Biazon’s one-page memorandum to BOC personnel read.
Corruption in the Bureau of Customs has become an accepted norm in the Philippines.
However, Pres. Aquino’s mandate of “Daang Matuwid” can never be fully realized, unless something as glaring as this would be brought to the forefront and dealt with accordingly.
It’s an all-or-nothing situation at this point.
(AJPress)
