Palace defends appointment of lawyer to BOC

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Monday defended the appointment of Customs Deputy Commissioner Agaton Teodoro Uvero, who allegedly acted as a lawyer for Coca Cola on a tax case involving imports.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda believes Uvero would inhibit from cases involving parties that he was previously connected to.

“More important than the professional connection is the point that he should abstain from any case involving his former connections, which we believe he will,” Lacierda said.

He added that Uvero had served as a consultant by agencies with strict selection processes.

“We have taken all that into consideration. Atty. Uvero’s record will bear out that he has been the consultant of choice of agencies like USAID (United States Agency for International Development) because of his competence,” Lacierda said.

“Good to point out that entities like USAID ‘have a strict vetting process’ and they will not hire anyone who is dishonest,” he added.

Uvero’s appointment as Customs deputy commissioner for assessment and operations was announced last month.

He now handles the group that oversees import valuation and classification; implementation of rules and regulations governing import assessment; processing of goods for exports, warehousing, auction and disposal; and port operations.

A group called the Center for Anti-Graft and Corruption Prevention Inc. has  opposed Uvero’s appointment, saying this would constitute conflict of interest.

The group claimed that Uvero was a lawyer of Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, which has a pending P1-billion tax case reportedly involving liquid sugar imports.

Uvero was an international trade and customs consultant of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.  He has worked on various customs technical assistance programs funded by USAID, Asian Development Bank, and Japan International Cooperation Agency. – Alexis Romero