Customs 'pilferers' have string of old charges

“The impropriety is on the part of the magistrate.” So says a legal luminary about Justice Renato Corona’s wife being a presidential appointee. “He should have inhibited himself from cases involving Malacañang.” Teodoro Regino, revered president of the Association of Retired Court of Appeals Justices, expounds:

The Code of Judicial Conduct, which requires independence from the executive and legislative, covers judges and justices. Mrs. Cristina Corona heads the government-owned John Hay Management Corp. by virtue of Gloria Arroyo’s “desire letters”. Due to the wife’s position of influence in the executive, Justice Corona was conflicted. To avoid conflict of interest he could have done two things. One was to recuse from the 18 big issues in which he voted in favor of the Arroyo admin. Another was to tell his wife to resign her Palace-granted office.

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The retirement of AFP chief Gen. Victor Ibrado (PMA Class of ‘76) on Wednesday raises hot questions. Like, will Gloria Arroyo let vice chief Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang (PMA ’76) slide in? Or will she pull up Army head Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit (PMA ’78), despite constitutional and election bans on appointments? And will the PMA Class of ’77 follow orders during the poll period from a junior but ruling PMA ’78? Beware the Ides of March.

Certain events make the issue hotter. Arroyo is an honorary member of PMA ’78; Bangit used to head her presidential security. New Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales rescinded predecessors’ memos to keep the military away from poll deployment. The Dept. of Interior openly is campaigning for admin candidates. Arroyo is arranging to position a loyalist Chief Justice. Truly beware.

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The Customs officers linked to the pilferage of confiscated electronic gadgets have pending cases with the Ombudsman. But they have not been suspended pending prosecution, allegedly because of the intercession of a superior.

Intelligence Division operations chief Eric Albano and his deputy Mitchell Verdeflor are in hot water — again. Customs insiders are accusing them of stealing smuggled goods they had seized last month. Items totaling millions of pesos allegedly were taken out of the agency warehouse “even prior to inspection.” Among these are four 50-inch plasma TV sets, 14 car stereos, four professional cameras, a video-game player, and nine bottles of designer perfumes. Reports have it that the coddling superior no less had ordered the filching, to gift to girlfriends. Ironically the theft occurred despite assurances by Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Jairus Paguntalan to secure the 40-footer container of the contraband.

When the theft was discovered, Albano and Verdeflor claimed they were only holding the goods as evidence. But even then they broke rules, according to Commissioner Napoleon Morales. For examination, valuation or prosecution, only one sample may be taken, and this is to be signed for and returned immediately. Morales’s predecessor Salvador Mison had so ordered as far back as 1990.

Albano and Verdeflor had been charged before the Ombudsman for illegal enrichment months ago. Lifestyle checks by finance agents showed that despite an annual salary of only P286,512, Albano owns a P9.7-million condo in Pasig City’s Ortigas Center. Other unexplained real estate are: a P3.5-million residential lot in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; two lots and a commercial building in Tanauan, Batangas; and a three-hectare beach resort in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte. Albano declared four businesses as sources of extra income, but investigators found these to have no sales or permits. The charge sheet lists two sedans, a station wagon, a van and a motorcycle among Albano’s possessions. Also, ten high-powered firearms, including Uzi and MP5 machine pistols and a Galil assault rifle. Plus frequent foreign travels with his wife and daughters.

Verdeflor’s annual pay is P156,792. Lifestyle checkers found him to own houses and lots in Caloocan and General Santos Cities. He also has a sedan and two SUVs; and 13 high-powered firearms, including an M&C machine pistol, an AK-47, and a Galil assault rifle. Almost all these were undeclared in Verdeflor’s annual Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Probers had sought Albano and Verdeflor’s preventive suspension, as well as summary proceedings to confiscate their unexplained wealth. But the Ombudsman allegedly has sat on the case on request of their Customs superior. That coddler brags that his wife is a presidential kin.

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Another stink is about to burst at the Dept. of Transportation and Communication. This time it concerns the Communications, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Systems contract. The Japan International Cooperation Agency is to lend the $190-million for the project, to be repaid by the Filipino people. But JICA alone wants to conduct the bidding, with the DOTC as protector of Filipinos’ interests to have no say.

Already there are murmurs that JICA reps are partial to a particular Japanese conglomerate. Allegedly on flimsy grounds they have disqualified two big Japanese competitors from pre-qualifying. And yet the remaining favored bidder had been blacklisted by the DOTC for reneging on a 1998 to supply a ship distress communication network.

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“You sometimes discover life’s meaning when you stumble over it. If you never stumble, you must be dead. We do not walk through life; we stumble all over it.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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