Manila port guard suspended over ‘ill-gotten wealth’

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has placed a Port of Manila security guard on 90-day preventive suspension while under investigation for his alleged questionable bank accounts amounting to P1.9 million and suspicious bank transactions.

BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla yesterday said Security Guard 2 Renly Tiñana, who has been with the bureau for more than five years, is facing administrative charges and would soon be investigated for possible criminal liability. He has been under preventive suspension since June 20.

“He is under preventive suspension that would last for three months. The case filed against him (if proven) warrants a penalty of dismissal from service and forfeiture of all benefits and he would perpetually be barred from occupying a position in government. The case is now being heard by our Legal Service,” Maronilla said.

The assistant commissioner added that they have tapped the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to look into Tiñana’s bank records and bank transactions.

The case against Tiñana reportedly stemmed from a report sometime last month, when security personnel profiled a person who acted suspiciously and wore a black hood while carrying a backpack inside bureau premises.

When the security personnel approached him and asked questions, he was reportedly unable to give satisfactory answers. They then asked if they could see the contents of his bag, to which the person obliged and the authorities saw two bundles of money, in the amount of P101,000 and P50,000, and four pieces of bank passbooks that reportedly belonged to Tiñana.

The young man admitted that he used to do his on-the-job training (OJT) at the BOC and was allegedly asked by Tiñana to run errands for him, then subsequently hired him as an “informal employee.” The man had been asked to deposit money in the bank from March until he was uncovered last month.

They asked Tiñana to give an explanation and he reportedly showed to the authorities his bank passbooks. One passbook reflected a total of P1.9 million while another showed P750,000. The two other passbooks contained hundreds of thousands of pesos.

Maronilla said they noticed that in one particular day, P2.5 million was deposited, and either during that day or the following day the same amount was withdrawn.

In all his years of working at the BOC, this was the first time that Tiñana’s name was linked to suspicious transactions, according to the assistant commissioner.

The security guard said the P151,000 to be deposited reportedly belonged to his wife, who reportedly earns more than him and the money was intended as savings for their children.

“But if it was really a transaction for his wife, why does it seem as if it was a regular bank transaction… He has to justify his salary grade and he has to prove the other sources of income of his wife, but apparently he is unable to do so,” Maronilla said.

Tiñana, who only earns P14,000 a month, would also be reportedly called by the Office of the District Collector (ODC) sometimes to be an acting examiner for public private bonded warehouse. The ODC does not have its own examiner and would randomly pick from one of the offices.