Rey Leonardo Guerrero said he is excited but “may konting (with a little) apprehension” following his appointment as the country’s new customs commissioner.
In an interview on October 25 right after President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him to the Bureau of Customs in place of Isidro Lapeña, Guerrero admitted: “Again it’s a new field. Pumasok ako sa Marina hindi naman ako galing sa industry (I entered Marina though I am not from the [shipping] industry), similarly sa (in) Customs. It’s a challenge and it’s another thing that I have to overcome.”
Duterte moved Guerrero out of the Maritime Industry Authority, where he was administrator, to replace Lapeña. Before Marina, Guerrero was Armed Forces of the Philippines chief.
Lapeña has been appointed chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), a position that comes with a Cabinet rank, said Duterte in a speech during the 117th anniversary of the Philippine Coast Guard on Oct 25.
“Sid (Lapeña’s nickname), the job at TESDA is quite something of a, it could be messy at times, but I’m sure your training as a military man, just like Jagger (Guerrero’s nickname), would augur well for the country,” Duterte said.
Lapeña had lately been embroiled in a word war with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino and BOC official Atty. Lourdes Mangaoang over whether methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu)—supposedly initially contained in four magnetic scrap lifters—slipped past customs custody. The magnetic scrap lifters were found with an empty interior at a warehouse in Cavite in August, with Aquino and Mangaoang claiming they once contained shabu and Lapeña insisting otherwise.
In a strange turn of events Lapeña, who used to head PDEA himself, later admitted, after hearing the findings of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that the lifters may have actually contained shabu.
DPWH Bureau of Equipment director Toribio Noel Ilao reported in a Lower House hearing on October 24 that they found the four magnetic scrap lifters were not designed to lift heavy objects and may have been purposely built to conceal items in its empty compartment.
Ilao also said their investigations yielded lead strips possibly installed by perpetrators to trick x-ray scanners about the density of materials inside the cavity of the magnetic lifters. DPWH said their findings revealed the lifters were made in such a way as to make whatever items were inside invisible to x-ray.
There is still no word on who will replace Guerrero at Marina, but the President indicated another former military officer may be appointed. Duterte appointed Guerrero as Marina chief just last April after he retired from the AFP.
Lapeña will replace Guiling Mamondiong at TESDA.
Floating status
Meanwhile, Duterte said all BOC personnel are on “floating status” to give Guerrero leeway in appointing his own people.
“Out lahat (Everyone out), to the last man—the commissioners are out, the department heads out,” Duterte said.
He added, “Maybe you (Guerrero) can utilize military men, the excess diyan sa wala trabaho, lalo na mga babae (the excess there who have no jobs, especially the women). You can suspend two or three days for them to learn. ‘Di naman mahirap x-ray-x-ray na ‘yan (That x-ray machine is not hard to operate).”
