Customs exec cleared of charges

Batangas City — The Bureau of Customs has cleared former Batangas district collector Edward de la Cuesta of administrative liability in the illegal release of a shipment of frozen chicken leg quarters last year for insufficiency of evidence.

In an 11-page decision, Customs Commissioner George Jereos said two provincial Customs staffers had failed to inform De la Cuesta about the alert order and the inspection request of the Veterinary Quarantine Service before the shipment slipped out of the Batangas port.

The shipment was released on Jan. 23 last year despite a hold order from the National Meat Inspection Commission and the Department of Agriculture. — Arnell Ozaet