MANILA, Philippines - There are over a thousand vacancies at Bureau of Customs (BOC) offices nationwide that need to be filled.
Customs Commissioner John Sevilla said they need 1,056 personnel – accountants, administrative officers, lawyers, special police, special agents, intelligence agents, statisticians and Customs operations officers.
“By filling these vacancies, we will be able to provide a faster and better standard of service for importers, exporters and the public dealing with Customs,” he said. “On the average, we have over 3,000 entries and over 6,000 individual items being imported every day.”
Sevilla said around 4,000 containers arriving everyday need to be inspected.
“In order to facilitate these transactions we need additional manpower,” he said.
“Right now, there are only 3,600 employees in BOC.”
The lack of manpower was partly due to retirement, resignation and death, as well as dropping from the rolls and dismissal from service, Sevilla said.
To screen applicants, the BOC has released new guidelines under Customs Memorandum Order 15-2014 to simplify the hiring and selection process.
Interested applicants could visit the BOC website www.customs.gov.ph to download the details and documents required for their applications, including an updated personal data sheet; certificate of eligibility issued by the Civil Service Commission, Professional Regulation Commission or Supreme Court; transcript of records and diploma; certificates of training and seminars attended, if any; and performance appraisal report for the last two rating periods for those already working in government offices.
Deadline for the submission of application is on Aug. 6.
Provincial applicants may also send their applications via courier.
Applicants with relatives in the BOC up to the fourth degree of consanguinity are barred from applying for any position, as the Administrative Code prohibits nepotism.
All applicants will be screened by the newly formed BOC Personnel Selection Boards.
Applicants who pass the initial screening will undergo special aptitude and psychometric tests conducted by the Civil Service Commission.
After passing, they will take competency-based tests given by requesting groups or offices consisting of a written test, interview and a physical exam for applicants for the Intelligence and Enforcement groups.
The BOC has streamlined the process of promotion for employees with first and second level positions.
An employee may be promoted to a position which is more than three salary grades higher than the employee’s present position in meritorious cases. – With Zinnia dela Peña