Faeldon gives BOC employees ‘clean slate’

MANILA, Philippines - Even after President Duterte named the Bureau of Customs as one of the most corrupt agencies in government, newly appointed BOC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said yesterday he intends to give all the agency’s employees a “clean slate.”

The retired Marine captain, 50, said he does not want to come into the BOC “with biases.”

He said it does not matter to him whether an employee has engaged in smuggling or is guilty of corruption.

“I am not here as a prosecutor. I am here to do the functions of the bureau,” Faeldon said.

He said he asked the BOC’s employees to help him fix the bureau.

“Whether they want to fix it or not it is all about them. This is not about me, not about the president of the Republic of the Philippines. This is about the rank and file. I will not come here and start firing people,” he said.

Faeldon refuses to set a timeline on how fast they would be able to implement the reforms.

However, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said yesterday he plans to go after erring BOC employees after the bureau –  under former commissioner Alberto Lina – failed to meet its revenue collection target for January to May.

This translates into a shortfall of P43.25 billion, Dominguez said.

“No culpable (BOC) officer has been fired until now… We will file as many cases against the violators,” he said in a statement.

Records show that in May alone, the BOC collected P154.86 billion in revenues in the first five months of 2016, way below its target of P198.11 billion.

Faeldon said he will fasttrack the computerization of the BOC and other reforms.