TO THE surprise of many, including yours truly, Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno, has performed well in the revenue collection department, producing a surplus of over ₱11.4 billion in the first six months of the year.
Given the background of a global economic slowdown due to the war in the Middle East and other economic constraints, the feat is indeed impressive and commendable.
There is no “secret” as to why Comm. Ariel was able to impose discipline and compliance in his directives in just one year as Customs Chief.
As he told close friends even before he was appointed by the President in July 2025, he is “never afraid” to lose his government post, anytime.
Indeed, he is the only top Customs official, as Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement and head of the Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG) then known as the Post Entry Audit Group (PEAG) that we knew of (after covering the Customs beat for some 20 years), who voluntarily resigned such powerful positions, partly in disgust over the way the BOC is being run by the commissioner back then.
And to the consternation—and surprised– of some long-staying Bureau officials and “players,” he is also the first Customs Commissioner to decline the “welcome pasalubong” that is customary practice too in other government agencies, especially at the PNP.
In my personal estimate, Comm. Nepo turned down as much as ₱500 million in “laughing money” just during the first few weeks of his assumption because as he puts it, he cannot be a “hypocrite” in imposing the ‘No-Take Policy’ at Customs if he is himself on the take.
Credit too, of course, should be given to President BBM and his Inner Cabinet for giving their full trust and confidence to Comm. Ariel and agreeing to his single condition: Either reforms are done “his way, or no way.”
Here, we should note that this ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ should also give people an “insight” on the President’s character—he is not a corrupt person and would support all efforts to restore public trust in government.
With this moral ascendancy, no one should be surprised anymore if top officials are soon finding their way out the door thru their own “voluntary” resignations. “Sumabit” kaya sinibak, ganun kasimple!
Credit too, of course, should be given to President BBM and his Inner Cabinet for giving their full trust and confidence to Comm. Ariel and agreeing to his single condition: Either reforms are done “his way, or no way.”
Here, we should note that this ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ should also give people an “insight” on the President’s character—he is not a corrupt person and would support all efforts to restore public trust in government
And so, we now come down to the topic of this piece, the so called ‘Paper Tigers at Customs.’
We have it on good information that after snooping, err, asking around, Comm. Ariel has also stumbled on the “bad habit” of district collectors covering up the collection shortfalls of some of their colleagues.
This they do by transferring, “on paper,” the surplus collection of one or more collection districts to the ledger of the district unable to meet its assigned target.
It was during the term of PGMA that we first heard of this “Accounting Abracadabra” at Customs and now, the deception is out in the open.
For Comm. Nepo, how can there be an objective and impartial evaluation of a collection district’s performance and address the constraints when the numbers you see are “padded” to begin with?
These Customs Paper Tigers are also probably snickering behind the Commissioner’s back each time they profess their “commitment” to his ‘IAM Customs Movement’ campaign anchored on Integrity, Accountability and Modernization’ knowing they would be resorting to “collection juggling” by the end of each month to “save” one of their own from being sacked for poor collection performance.
We also heard that Finance Secretary Frederick Go was very much upset about this “arrangement” after being briefed on the matter that he now wants Comm. Nepo to clamp down on this shenanigan promptly and decisively.
And yes, Secretary Go may want to find out if this is also happening inside the entire DOF family, tama ba, Miss Cams Cordero?
Now that everything is in the open, it is worth watching what new scheme or schemes, some of the unrepentant “bright boys and girls” at Customs would come up with.
Abangan!