MANILA, Philippines - Former Muntinlupa congressman Ruffy Biazon has been named commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), replacing Angelito Alvarez who was reportedly forced to resign amid criticism that he failed to curb rampant smuggling.
Malacañang announced Biazon’s appointment last night as well as that of retired Brig. Gen. Danny Lim as deputy BOC commissioner for intelligence. Alvarez was unaware of the development when he talked with reporters at noon yesterday.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, in a press briefing, squelched speculations that the appointment of the two – both defeated senatorial candidates of the Liberal Party – was merely political accommodation.
“The President believes that commissioner Ruffy Biazon can implement the reforms needed in the Customs bureau. His competence cannot be questioned. He will follow the reform agenda as intended by the President,” Valte emphasized.
Biazon told ABS-CBN News Channel that his oath-taking is slated tomorrow and that his first working day will be on Monday. He said he will sit down with Alvarez and hold a formal and ceremonial turnover.
In a press statement, Biazon thanked President Aquino for the appointment, and said he was committed to do his job well, “honestly and faithfully with the country’s welfare as the primary consideration.”
He vowed to implement reforms in the BOC’s systems and procedures, organizational structure, “personnel morale and even the agency’s image.”
“This is a make or break assignment for me, with a challenge much greater than others I have faced before,” he said.
In late August, President Aquino confirmed that he was not satisfied with the performance of Alvarez, reportedly a protégé of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, and admitted that he already had someone in mind to replace him. He had told reporters that it was Purisima who had been egging him on to keep Alvarez.
Biazon and Aquino were former colleagues in the House of Representatives, the former representing Muntinlupa while the latter was congressman of Tarlac.
The young Biazon is the son of former senator and now Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, who served as AFP chief of staff during the term of Aquino’s mother, the late Corazon Aquino, in the late 80s.
Alvarez drew flak from several House members due to the reported disappearance of nearly 2,000 shipping containers while en route from the Port of Manila to Batangas. The “disappearance” of the cargoes cost the government P240 million in unrealized revenues. Alvarez called the demands for his resignation “unjust and undeserved.”
“Some people had lost sight of the fact that it was I who uncovered the missing container scam and that I had ordered the concerned officials of the bureau to explain the discrepancy in the transshipment data long before the start of the congressional inquiry on this matter,” Alvarez said.
Aquino had hinted of a revamp in Customs as early as June.
“You will get that (revamp news) not that soon, but very soon, once we finish it. That is something that is a perpetual topic between the secretary of finance (Purisima) and myself,” he said.
But some lawmakers said Alvarez should be credited for exposing the case of the missing containers and for ordering a freeze on transshipment operations.
“I congratulate you for your effort in exposing this and stopping this practice,” Sen. Ralph Recto told Alvarez earlier yesterday during a hearing by the Congressional Oversight Committee on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program. Recto chairs the Senate committee on ways and means.
Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, Recto’s counterpart in the House, also praised Alvarez in the same hearing.
Alvarez earlier ordered a moratorium on transshipment operations to prevent abuse and misuse of the procedures.
The sacked BOC chief said that while transshipment is one of the trade facilitation practices being implemented by the agency, the practice has proven to be prone to abuse.
Under the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, transshipment is allowed. The process refers to the movement of imported cargoes from their original port of discharge to their final port of destination.
Customs officials could not account for the containers that went missing between January and May.
Congress is currently investigating the matter. The BOC, with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), however, has already seized P50 million worth of goods in a warehouse in Caloocan believed to be part of the missing cargoes. Alvarez also uncovered, through audit, 3,600 more containers that went missing last year. The BOC projects to collect P320 billion this year.
Clueless
Alvarez was still clueless about his fate at noon yesterday. He even declared that Lim would be a good addition to BOC.
Lim reportedly showed up at the bureau last Tuesday to look for a place to set up office.
“Someone told me that General Lim dropped by the bureau last Tuesday and was looking for me. My secretary scheduled our meeting on Friday (Sept. 16). He was seen touring the facilities of the bureau but I have not yet received his appointment papers. But apparently, it seemed, that he has already accepted the position and might already be looking for a place for his office,” Alvarez said.
“If General Lim would be designated for Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence, and he would be coming from the outside and given his reputation, I am sure that he would be a big help” to the bureau, he added.
Lim replaces Jarius Paguntalan, who quit a few months before Alvarez took over 14 months ago.
Alvarez also said he was still waiting for Malacañang to designate a replacement for BOC-Enforcement Security Service (ESS) director Nestorio Gualberto, who retired last Sept. 8.
II am still waiting for Malacañang to appoint someone. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and I are talking on the possible names (for his replacement). For the time being, I said Deputy Commissioner Horacio Suansing Jr. should oversee the ESS while Secretary Purisima and I are still finalizing on who should be put there,I he said.
“They (legislators) congratulated me. If it is true that I would be out by Friday, this is a good development for me (that I am being recognized for my efforts). It is like a graceful exit,” Alvarez said. with Iris Gonzales and Evelyn Macairan