A neophyte senator urged President Aquino to temporarily take over the reins of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) until its stables are cleansed if he does not have the heart to fire its head, Ruffy Biazon.
Opposition Sen. Jose Victor 鈥淛V鈥� Ejercito noted that the President might have qualms about booting out Biazon because he is a member of the administration鈥檚 Liberal Party (LP).
Malaca帽ang on Wednesday refused to comment on Sen. Antonio Trillanes鈥� call to the President to crack down on 鈥減ower-wielders鈥� in the BOC but maintained reforms were forthcoming.
Extensive reforms
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda declined to confirm Trillanes鈥� claim that the President knew the padrinos but said the executive department had a complete picture of the situation in the BOC.
鈥淧art of the process of instituting reforms is to know the battlefield. It is safe to say that we know the battlefield and we know the lay of the land; and so, what the reforms are will be in response to the lay of the land,鈥� he told reporters in a briefing.
Malaca帽ang has vowed to institute extensive reforms in the agency.
鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 difficult to let go of someone sporting the (party) color,鈥� Ejercito said, apparently referring to the LP鈥檚 symbolic yellow when asked about Mr. Aquino鈥檚 seeming hesitance to let go of Biazon who has yet to eradicate smuggling syndicates since his appointment to the bureau in 2011.
Biazon ran for senator under the LP in 2010 but lost. He was appointed customs commissioner after the one-year ban on losing candidates accepting government positions.
Biazon鈥檚 father, Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, is also an LP member and was among the first to pledge allegiance to then Sen. Benigno Aquino III when the party was deciding on a standard-bearer.
鈥淲e want the President to succeed but it seems he is having difficulty letting go when the person concerned is a political ally,鈥� Ejercito said in a news conference yesterday.
鈥淏ut if you are the President, your loyalty to the party should only be second to loyalty to the country,鈥� the senator said.
Hands-on approach
Ejercito said it would be better if the President himself took a hands-on approach in cleaning up the BOC since he obviously knew those who needed to be removed.
In his State of the Nation Address (Sona) last week, President Aquino deplored the BOC for inefficiency and corruption but did not accept the resignation that Biazon volunteered minutes after his speech.
鈥淚f the President takes the lead in cleaning the agency, who could say no to that?鈥� Ejercito said.
Protectors
Biazon and Deputy Customs Commissioner Danilo Lim had been quoted as saying that the backers of corrupt officials in the agency include senators, congressmen and relatives of some top officials.
Reports have identified the so-called 鈥淭hree Kings鈥� in the agency as Ricardo Belmonte, brother of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.; district collector Carlos So of Ninoy Aquino International Airport and district collector Rogel Gatchalian of the Port of Manila.
Biazon had asked port collectors to relinquish their posts to make way for a revamp.
Ejercito said that if the President would not replace Biazon, the commissioner should at least be given a six-month deadline to 鈥渕ake headway鈥� and improve the situation in the bureau.
By this, Ejercito said the BOC should reflect better collection efforts and curb the padrino (patrons) system.
Full context
Trillanes told reporters he called Lacierda 鈥渢o explain to him the full context鈥� of the Inquirer story on Wednesday in which Mr. Aquino was 鈥渄ared鈥� to name the padrinos in the BOC.
鈥淚 clarified that I wasn鈥檛 demanding anything from the President. I never challenged him,鈥� Trillanes said.
The senator pointed out that the demand to name padrinos came from another source鈥攔etired Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani鈥攚ho addressed the challenge to customs officials.
True enough, the Inquirer report only quoted Trillanes saying as he awaits what Mr. Aquino would do about the padrinos 鈥渂ased on what he knows.鈥�
Trillanes said the President raised the issue of the BOC鈥檚 lackadaisical performance and its inept employees in the Sona.
鈥淔or the President to mention it in the Sona means he knows something. He knows the big picture. I鈥檓 just waiting for what he will do based on what he knows,鈥� Trillanes said in an ambush interview.
鈥淭he public is waiting also,鈥� he added.
On Tuesday night, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte responded to Trillanes鈥� statement by saying: 鈥淟et鈥檚 just wait for the reforms set to be implemented, and then we can assess from there.鈥�
Lacierda said he spoke with Trillanes but claimed they didn鈥檛 dwell on the latter鈥檚 public challenge to the President to crack down on the power wielders. He said the senator expressed support for Mr. Aquino鈥檚 reforms.
Lacierda also declined to say if the President had solid evidence against customs personnel when he lambasted them for their incompetence in his Sona.
鈥淵ou will know our reforms 鈥� You know, we don鈥檛 want to telegraph what our measures will be. If I answer you one way, there will be a lot of implications or consequences. So the safest answer is to say: you will know,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his is my last song syndrome with respect to the customs: let鈥檚 wait for the reforms,鈥� he added.
Include oil smuggling
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said he wanted the planned Senate probe of the BOC padrino system to include oil smuggling.
It was the Senate finance committee chair, Francis Escudero, who filed a聽 resolution on Tuesday directing three powerful Senate committees鈥攂lue ribbon, ways and means and his own panel鈥攖o lead the probe.
Recto said Petron Corp. went on record saying that the government was losing yearly between P30 billion and P40 billion in revenue due to the smuggling of refined petroleum products, mainly gasoline and diesel.
Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano suggested that whistle-blowers, who identify protectors of smuggling syndicates,聽 be given cash incentives just like those who pinpoint criminal suspects to aid law enforcers.
Full cooperation
Biazon said the BOC would fully cooperate with the Senate in its planned inquiry into the padrino system in the agency.
鈥淲e will cooperate with inquiries called for by the legislative branch,鈥� he said.
In a blog on the padrino system in the agency, Biazon said sometime in March he was 鈥渟urprised at the number of employees and officials in the bureau who are said to have their own political backers.鈥�
鈥淎nd we鈥檙e not just talking about top level or even middle management. We鈥檙e talking about even down to the clerk level,鈥� he wrote.
He recalled: 鈥淥ne time, there was one person I put in the Customs Navy (floating status). It wasn鈥檛 long before I received letters from three congressmen inquiring as to why the person was removed from the post.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 told that one previous commissioner even had a political map of personnel in the bureau, identifying the connections that these personnel had with those in power,鈥� he said.
Biazon noted that as early as April, he had pushed for the passage of a Congress measure that would seek to insulate the BOC from political patronage, as well as ban the endorsement or recommendation by politicians and other influential persons in the hiring or promotion of customs personnel.
The same bill 鈥渟hould also include the establishment of specific qualifications for anyone to be hired in the bureau. For instance, only those who have taken up customs administration or licensed customs brokers should be hired,鈥� he added.
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