Memo not from DOF official

This refers to the article of Mr. Edu Punay, “Report shows decline in BOC collection” (July 23, 2014).

The article heavily attributes to the undersigned, as an Undersecretary of the Department of Finance, the authorship of a supposed seven-page memorandum addressed to the Secretary of Finance regarding the declining collections in the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

To set the record straight, there is no such memorandum written by the undersigned addressed to the Secretary of Finance, bearing on the supposed declining collection of the BOC.

There is a report coming from four officials of the Customs Reform Policy Office (CPRO) bearing on the same subject, but in no case should the contents of this report be taken as statements of the undersigned. This said report is clearly signed by the officials involved, and if this is the same report Philippine STAR used as reference, then it should have been equally clear that the undersigned was not involved in the writing thereof. To report and attribute said statements to anyone else but the authors thereof is not only irresponsible journalism but appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the reading public.

In this regard, kindly be informed that the data and analysis in the said report are still being verified by the BOC, with initial indications as early as now that certain assumptions were wrong, necessarily making conclusions arrived at similarly erroneous.

The undersigned further requests for a copy of the said seven-page memorandum used by Philippine STAR which became subject of the July 23, 2014 article of Mr. Punay, for verification if this is indeed the memorandum coming from the officials of the CPRO.

All appropriate actions that you make take in view of the foregoing shall be appreciated. — Carlo A. Carag, Undersecretary, Department of Finance