RECENTLY RESIGNED Bureau of Customs (BoC) commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon was among the individuals identified by Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Wednesday as among those benefiting from the systemic corruption at the BoC.

Lacson
Senator Panfilo Lacson gives a privilege speech during Aug. 23’s plenary session, during which he presented a list of alleged players, bagmen and collectors of payola involved in the corruption activities within the Bureau of Customs (BOC). — Senate PRIB

This was in sharp contrast to Mr. Faeldon’s reputed incorruptibility as also emphasized by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

In his privilege speech on Wednesday, Aug. 23, Mr. Lacson said Mr. Faeldon “should’ve stood firm” against the so-called “tara” system at the bureau “even if he’s alone,” but “instead of going against the system, siya ang kinain ng sistema [he was the one eaten by the system].”

According to Mr. Lacson, grease money takers within the BoC are from top to bottom — from the bureau’s highest officials to those guarding the agency’s X-ray machines.

Mr. Lacson said Mr. Faeldon and other alleged beneficiaries of the huge regular grease money at the bureau found it hard to resist corruption because it gave them so much comfort.

“‘Pag nasarapan ka, hahanap-hanapin pa ang dagdag-kita,” the senator said. (Once you’ve had a taste of it, you will be looking for that extra income.)

The senator likewise named the following ranking BoC officials as among alleged bribe-takers: Deputy commissioners Teddy Raval, Ariel Nepomuceno, Gerardo Gambala, Natalio C. Ecarma III, and Edward Dy Buco; Neil Estrella, head of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service; Larrybert Hilario, head of the BoC Risk Management Office; and Milo Maestrecampo, Import Assessment Service director.

Also included in Mr. Lacson’s tara list are Zsai de Guzman, chief of the Intellectual Property Rights Commission; Joel Pinawin, officer-in-charge of the Intelligence Division; Grace Malabed, acting chief of the Accounts Management Office; and Alvin Embreo, director of the Revenue Collection Monitoring Group’s Legal Service.

Mr. Lacson also named the five big players allegedly pulling the strings at the BoC and how many containers they facilitate to bring out of the agency daily using taras.

1. David Tan – 100 to 110 containers

2. Manny Santos – 80 to 100 containers

3. Davao Group – 80 to 100 containers

4. Teves Group – 80 to 100 containers

5. Kimberly – 50 to 80 containers

He also listed the offices within the agency allegedly receiving grease money per container at the Central Office of the BoC as well as the personnel of the MICP and the POM.

• Office of the Commissioner – 5,000 to 10,000

• Command Center – P5,000 to P10,000

• Assessment, Operations and Coordinating Group – P1,000 to P3,000

• Intelligence Group (IG)– P1,500 to P3,000

• Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Central – P3,000 to P10,000

• CIIS Director’s Office – P500 to P1,000

• Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) – P1,000 to P3,000

• Accounts Management Office (AMO) P1,000 to P2,000

• Import Assessment Service (IAS) – P1,000 to P3,000

• MICP and Port of Manila – P9,000 to P15,000 for the Section heads, appraisers, and examiners in the formal entry division for both MICP and POM

• Informal Entry Division for MICP and POM – P1,000 to P3,000

• MICP and POM Collector’s Office – P3,000

• MICP and POM CIIS Port – P500 to P1,000

• MICP and POM Enforcement and Security Service – P500

• MICP and POM – P500 to P1,000

• Piers and inspection division for MICP and POM – P200

• POM Deputy District Collector – P1,000 to P3,000

Mr. Lacson also enumerated the list of alleged bagmen for each BoC office as well as district collectors and officers who were also recipients of the tara.

He likewise blasted the BoC, paraphrasing a Shakespeare quote to express his indignation by saying, “Hell is empty and all the devils are at the Bureau of Customs.”

He also lamented on how the agency failed to fight corruption despite being the centerpiece of Mr. Duterte’s campaign promises along with combating illegal drugs in the country.

“If the frontline government agency called the Bureau of Customs would allow consciously or the convenient smuggling of tons of shabu in our country, it is impossible to win the battle against illegal drugs,” he said.

He also insisted on bringing the intensity of the administration’s war against drugs to the war against corruption, saying that the battle starts at the BoC.

“If we intend to remain committed to the war on drugs, we need a war on corruption,” he said.

“It is also high time to send off an all-out sustained war against corruption and the battle starts at the Bureau of Customs,” he added

The senator also accused the following of benefiting from the grease money being dispensed for the easy release of imported cargoes: Athena Dans of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT)’s informal entry division; all section heads, appraisers, examiners in the informal entry division at the Port of Manila (POM); and the chief appraiser and examiners of the MICP and POM sections 1, 9, 10, and 15.

Mr. Faeldon, in a quick statement following Mr. Lacson’s speech, said: “I have not asked anybody to collect tara for me nor have I accepted any tara from anybody. Again, I have not done any form of corruption in my many years of government service nor tolerated those who tried even in the form of request. No is no. The country will appreciate if a third-party investigation by a competent body will be conducted so that justice will be served. Just like the Honorable Senator Lacson and the Filipino people, I want the truth to come out.” — interaksyon.com

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