BOC is first to create ‘anti-corruption committees’

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) under Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guererro, became the first national government agency to heed the call of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) for the creation of ‘anti-corruption committees’ encompassing the bureau’s 17 collection districts.

In a simple ceremony last October 7, 2021 held via Zoom, Guerrero, along with PACC chair, Greco Belgica, formalized the creation of the ‘BOC-PACC Command Group’ specifically focused on addressing allegations of corruption in the agency, the country’s second highest revenue earner for the government and which has previously been described as “among the most corrupt” unit of the Executive Branch.

The command group is to be chaired by BOC spokesman and assistant commissioner, Atty. Philip Maronilla with Jeoffrey Tacio, director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), as the “point of contact.”

The creation of a bureaucracy-wide anti-corruption committees to address systemic corruption in the government thru a ‘whole of government, whole of nation’(WOG/WON) strategy is a flagship project of the PACC under Belgica thru ‘Project Kasangga.’

Aside from the command group, the district collectors of all 17 customs offices nationwide have also been appointed chair of the ‘anti-corruption coordinating committees’ (ACCCs) in their respective jurisdictions.

“Under the leadership of Commissioner Guerrero, and with the guidance of the PACC, the BOC-PACC Command Group shall faithfully discharge its mandate and, together with all the local ACCs, join hands with the whole of government in this fight to eradicate corruption”– BOC Assistant Commissioner Atty. Vincent Maronilla

In his opening remark, Maronilla described the activity as a “momentous occasion” as it “reaffirms the Bureau of Customs’ steadfast commitment of fighting corruption and ensuring public accountability and good governance in the government service, in line with the express directive of President Rodrigo Duterte.”

“Under the leadership of Commissioner Guerrero, and with the guidance of the PACC, the BOC-PACC Command Group shall faithfully discharge its mandate and, together with all the local ACCs, join hands with the whole of government in this fight to eradicate corruption,” Maronilla added.

Guerrero, for his part, said the event “reaffirms our commitment to the clarion call of Pres. Duterte for a clean government,” further assuring it “would not be an exercise in futility.”

Th customs chief further noted that the bureau’s recent achievements have shown that clamping down on corruption is “not a far-fetched goal.”

“In September this year, BOC earned a trailblazer award for the Performance Governance System’s (PGS) proficiency stage,” Guerrero said, adding:

“Most of our customs districts are now ISO-certified; we have culminated our integrity program diagnostic with the World Customs Organization; and, we have acquired new equipment to make our operations transparent and to readily identify any lapses in the conduct of our personnel.”

To further demonstrate their commitment to the government’s campaign against corruption, all the present customs officials swear to not only be “loyal to our oath of office” but to also “coordinate” with the PACC on the full implementation of Project Kasangga and to “facilitate” all request for documents and information related to any investigation being conducted by the commission.

Guerrero is also to be regularly informed of developments.

Prior to last Thursday’s event, the PACC also successfully launched last September 5, 2021, the ‘National Anti-Corruption Coordinating Council’ (NACCC) that encompasses all the departments and agencies of the executive branch with the National Press Club (NPC) and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCII), as members representing civil society.

3 employees dismissed in BOC crackdown

In a statement last October 9, 2021, the BOC signaled the seriousness of its anti-corruption campaign under Guerrero with the issuance of 516 ‘show cause orders’ (SCOs) in the first nine months of the year that resulted to the dismissal, suspension, relief, and reshuffling of errant BOC employees.

The SCOs resulted to the CIIS conducting 126 investigation of customs personnel that led to the dismissal of 3 employees, suspension of 12 others, reprimand and relief for 12 others and the transfer to other customs units of 543 more “due to irregular and unlawful activities.”

Aside from these, 31 administrative cases have also been forwarded to the BOC Legal Service, one case was submitted to the Ombudsman and 57 cases to the National Bureau of Investigation for a deeper investigation.

The successful creation of the BOC-PACC command group and the creation of the agency’s 17 ACCCs under Project Kasangga is also the last official act of Belgica as PACC chair.

Belgica resigned the following day, October 8, 2021, from the commission to pursue his plan to run for the Senate under the PDP-Laban faction of Pres. Duterte.

Belgica said the activity should serve as an inspiration and a model to the rest of the executive branch.

“The BOC (has become) a model to other government agencies,” Belgica said. “The BOC is the first to put into action and to put into flesh the oath we took six months ago,” Belgica noted.