Philippine Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña is set to relieve some heads of assessment offices in Philippine ports following reports they still continue to accept bribes despite warnings to stop this practice.
Lapeña said he has received reports that Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials and employees have complied “in general” with his directive to refrain from accepting grease money (tara), except for some examiners in assessment offices.
He said these examiners, who are responsible for the correct valuation of shipments, are also reportedly doing benchmarking, which he noted is illegal and usually includes tara.
He said he is still verifying and validating the reports, but added that the heads of assessment offices in ports, particularly in the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP)—BOC’s two biggest revenue generators—will likely be relieved.
He noted that payment of tara is systematic in BOC, the practice usually involving unit heads down to the employees. This is why he is relieving some heads of assessment offices, “being the persons responsible in those sections.”
Lapeña said that if proven, the erring officials would be dealt with accordingly and if warranted, would be subjected to disciplinary actions.
Affected officials would be replaced with deputies, Lapeña noted.
Earlier, the customs chief had ordered district collectors of the Port of Manila and MICP transferred for not following the correct valuation of shipments passing through their ports.
READ: Rigodon at the BOC; MICP, POM collectors transferred
Lapeña has instructed district collectors to implement correct valuation in order to increase revenue collection and hit this year’s target of P468 billion.
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
