BOC exec on dismissal: A case of mistaken identity

MANILA, Philippines - A ranking official of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who was relieved from his post expressed belief yesterday that his removal was simply a case of mistaken identity.

BOC Deputy Commissioner Arnel Alcaraz was relieved of his post as head of the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) earlier this month after apparently being alluded to by President Duterte as among the corrupt officials of the bureau.

Alcaraz’s lawyer, Mark Jon Palomar, asked authorities to exercise care not only in acting on allegations of corruption but more so in establishing the correct identity of the supposed malefactor.

He pointed out Duterte and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III were both quoted earlier as saying that it was the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence that they intended to dismiss.

“If the aim of President Duterte and Secretary Dominguez is to weed out corrupt officials from the BOC, the dismissal of Deputy Commissioner Alcaraz makes absolutely no sense,” Palomar said.

“Alcaraz has an unblemished track record throughout his career, and what makes it even more confusing is that they clearly identified the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence as the BOC official being investigated,” he said.

BOC’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Leon Mogao Jr. denied the allegations.

“Given the issues being raised against him and his subsequent denial, it therefore came as no surprise when the President and the good secretary informed the media that he was being suspended,” Palomar said.

“All of a sudden, and without any explanation, it was Deputy Commissioner Alcaraz who got booted out,” he said.

Palomar lamented the clarificatory statement of BOC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon’s chief of staff Mandy Anderson, who was quoted in news reports as saying Alcaraz was the one Duterte and Dominguez were referring to, as he is the only commissioner that has a formal complaint from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Palomar said Alcaraz has not received a single formal complaint from the NBI.

“The man (Alcaraz) is clean; there is nothing to complain about. What he did receive – under very suspicious circumstances – was a simple request from the NBI to respond to allegations from a certain Ronald Lansangan,” he said.

Lansangan lodged a complaint against Alcaraz with the NBI a day before Duterte and Dominguez announced the shake-up in the BOC’s ranks, representing himself as an employee of a licensed customs broker.

The broker, however, has issued a certification that Lansangan is not an employee or authorized representative of the brokerage firm.

Despite repeated attempts, the NBI has refused to show Alcaraz and his lawyer a copy of Lansangan’s allegations.

“He said it was common knowledge there are powerful groups that exert a tremendous amount of influence within the Bureau of Customs,” Palomar said.

“Given the highly irregular circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Deputy Commissioner Alcaraz, it appears that they have successfully run an operation against a decent and highly competent public servant,” he added.