BOC chief retires, commends ESS for sterling performance

Commissioner Titus Villanueva, who is set to retire tomorrow, after spending 40 years of public service in the Bureau of Customs, received "farewell" honors from the uniformed men and women of the bureau.

In his speech, Villanueva commended the Customs Police, also referred to as the Enforcement and Security Services (ESS), for their performance. He cited the ESS, which he described as the "first line of defense," for apprehending more than 50 kilograms of the illegal drug metamphetamine hydrochloride, better known as shabu.

Villanueva, however, reserved his most emphatic words of praise for the Customs uniformed unit’s interception of some 1.3 million bags of smuggled rice with an estimated value of P1.5 billion in the year 2001. In comparison, only 50,000 bags were seized in 2000.

"Why the huge discrepancy between the records of the two consecutive years? The shortest answer, of course, is political will," the Customs veteran said.

Villanueva also credited President Arroyo for her honesty and political will, with which, he added, there will be no reason for the Customs police to fear and waver in the enforcement of laws and performance of their duties. The commissioner stressed that during the first year of President Arroyo, the incidence of smuggling drastically went down as the bureau undertook an honest to goodness drive against smuggling. He also lauded the ESS for their courage in the face of dangers to life and limb, which have not lessened, even as they come in different forms with more viciousness, given the sophistication and financial resources of the smuggling syndicates.

Villanueva bade farewell to his uniformed colleagues, affirming his confidence in the dedication and decency of the majority in the Customs bureaucracy, as he lashed out at detractors who blind the public eye from noticing the substantial headways made by the bureau in closing down windows of corruption within its walls.