Duterte to remove 100 more ‘corrupt’ BOC men

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — President Duterte is determined to cleanse the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as he vowed to fire 100 more officials and employees for alleged corruption.

Duterte, at the inauguration of a bypass road in Candon City, Ilocos Sur on Thursday night, said while corruption among BOC employees is nothing compared to influential people with connections to the government, he still needed to sack the Customs personnel.

“Mind you, the plunderers as I have said during my campaign are the rich people, especially those with links to the government. They are involved in corruption worth billions of pesos. Iyang mga taga-Customs wala pa iyan. But I have to kick them out,” he said.

Duterte said 64 BOC officials and employees would be terminated next week, “and 100 more corrupt Customs personnel are coming.”

He said he appointed former Armed Forces chief Rey Leonardo Guerrero as BOC chief as part of efforts to rid the agency of corruption.

“Kasi sabi nila hindi daw talaga malinis-linis ang (They say Customs cannot really be cleaned). So I placed him there,” the President said.

The BOC officials and employees who would be dismissed from the service were called to a meeting at Malacañang last week.

President Duterte has ordered the BOC officials to tender their resignation even as they would be investigated over allegations of corruption.

Duterte had earlier said he wanted corrupt Customs employees to clean up the Pasig River.

‘Ombudsman probe out in 2 weeks’

Ombudsman Samuel Martires has ordered field investigators of the anti-graft agency to submit an investigation report on the alleged corruption in the BOC involving more than 50 officials and employees.

“I gave them two weeks or earlier than that to finish the probe,”Martires said.

“Probably by Monday, we will have initial report from the field investigators. From there, we will decide if there is probable cause to conduct a full-blown investigation of Customs officials and employees,” he added.

Martires said he is inclined to place some BOC officials under preventive suspension even at the initial stage or the fact-finding phase of the investigation.

“I don’t think we can proceed with the investigation smoothly if we do not impose preventive suspension,” he said. 

In his fourth State of the Nation Addresss on Monday, President Duterte said he wants corrupt BOC officials and employees out of the bureau.

Officials said 63 BOC employees are facing criminal charges and 61 others are being investigated for their alleged involvement in corruption.

Assistant BOC Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla on Tuesday said the agency would abide by the directive of the President. – With Elizabeth Marcelo