Purisima, Parayno, Alvarez face graft raps

MANILA, Philippines - Graft charges have been filed against Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, his undersecretary Guillermo Parayno Jr. and Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez before the Office of the Ombudsman due to the continued proliferation of smuggling in the country.

In an eight-page complaint, the employees of the Bureau of Customs protested that the continued nefarious activities of past administrations remain undeterred in the administration of President Aquino, who has vowed to curb large-scale corruption.

The employees, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the three government officials have “wittingly tolerated for 10 months” the existence of extensive smuggling nationwide of used clothing, popularly known as ukay-ukay.”  

According to the complainants, this practice is in direct violation of Republic Act 4653, enacted in 1966, “that prohibits commercial importation of used clothing and related textile goods.”

Likewise, the trio have “consented openly” to the utilization of some 2,500 non-Customs personnel – dubbed as hao siao – to render official functions of the Customs bureau, causing injury to public service and in violation of the Civil Service Law.

Two cases in point they cited were those of a certain Cesar Manuel, formerly an Air21 broker who “signs in behalf” of Alvarez; and a certain Andy Ong – a “noted cock derby player” – who is a “suspect on extorting (the) transacting public in the agency.” 

These hao siaos, they disclosed, draw their salaries from so-called “tara” or bribery money “generated from various forms of anomalies in every BOC office that fully allows pervasive crimes of smuggling.”

Customs workers also said the trio “virtually” allowed the illegal operations of E-Konek – an Internet server providing electronic lodgment of import and export entries for the bureau – “without any legal contract with the bureau and no public bidding.” It operated in 1994.

“E-Konek rakes in hundreds of millions in revenues annually through its illegal operations in BOC offices nationwide. To date, E-Konek maintains 26 big clients that questionably and directly transact daily in BOC,” they revealed. 

The employees disclosed that E-Konek is owned by former customs commissioner Alberto Lina with Parayno as president. Parayno and Alvarez are top officials of E-Konek and Air21, respectively, big companies that are owned by Lina.

Lina is known to have contributed a huge amount of money to the campaign kitty of then senator and presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, along with his defeated running-mate, former Sen. Mar Roxas, who lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay.  

Commissioner Kim Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), according to the complainants, is a “tight protégé of Parayno when he served as BIR commissioner in the past.”