P1.63-M agri goods without import permits seized

A JOINT inspection by various government agencies has resulted in the confiscation of PHP1.63 million worth of agricultural products without necessary permits, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported on Monday.

BOC exceeds midyear revenue target, logs over P13-B surplus

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) has exceeded its revenue collection target for the first half of the year after posting a surplus of over PHP13 billion.

BOC logs P3-B collection surplus in April

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) has exceeded its revenue collection target by PHP3.192 billion in April.

BOC exceeds March target collection, logs P2.5-B surplus

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) has exceeded its revenue collection target for the third consecutive month this year.

PBBM imposes mandated rice price ceilings

PRESIDENT FERDINAND R. Marcos Jr. has approved the recommendation to impose mandated price ceilings on rice in the whole country, in light of the surge in its retail prices.

Romualdez warns rice hoarders, smugglers of prosecution

HOUSE OF Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday called on the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to send rice smugglers and hoarders to jail for committing a "heinous crime" against the poor by keeping this Filipino food staple out of their reach through price manipulation.

BOC, PDEA to boost intelligence, procedures vs. illegal drugs

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) on Thursday assured to boost intelligence and simplify the process with the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to combat illegal drug smuggling at the Port of Clark.

BOC awarded for ‘exceptional efforts’ vs. counterfeit shoes

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday said it received recognition for its confiscation of over a billion-peso worth of counterfeit footwear.

BOC eyes to surpass target collections to boost gov't funding

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) is aiming to consistently surpass its collection targets to help fund the economic goals of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

BOC warehouse raid in Sulu yields smuggled cigarettes worth P1.4B

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) on Thursday raided a warehouse in Sulu with more or less PHP1.425 billion worth of illegally imported cigarettes.

Bureau of Customs vows to deliver Balikbayan boxes

CEBU CITY – The Bureau of Customs here said it is completing the delivery of 185 Balikbayan boxes to families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) free of charge after the packages were abandoned in warehouses, mostly in Manila.

BOC exceeds 2022 revenue collection target

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday reported it has surpassed its annual revenue collection target of PHP721.52 billion for 2022 by generating PHP745.50 billion, the highest revenue collection to date.

US body to help BOC in handling weapons of mass destruction

THE BUREAU of Customs (BOC) will work with the US Department of Defense, to enhance the agency's capability in handling weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Police intercept two boats loaded with contraband

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police and Customs officers intercepted two motorboats loaded with some P8.9 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off a coastal village in Zamboanga City, officials said Saturday.

Bureau of Customs commended

ZAMBOANGA MAYOR Beng Climaco commended the Bureau of Customs for surpassing its target collection by P1.36 billion in 2020 despite the slowdown in economic activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

BOC-Cebu exceeds target revenues

CEBU CITY –  The Bureau of Customs in Cebu said its tax collection in 2020 rose by 12.10 percent and reached P30.87 billion, surpassing its annual target of P27.539 billion.

Corruption is worse now: Duterte

PRESIDENT DUTERTE has admitted that corruption in government has worsened, but he vowed to fight it the last remaining years of his term which ends in 2022.

Palace cites ‘lawlessness' in fielding military at Bureau of Customs

THE “STATE OF LAWLESSNESS” in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to deploy military personnel in the graft-ridden government agency, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

He said the multi-billion peso worth of shabu that recently slipped past the Customs is one proof of rampant irregularity in the BOC. "The provision of the Constitution says that when there is lawless violence, then the President can call up the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Now, the lawless violence certainly would refer to what is happening in the Bureau of Customs," Panelo said.

"There is a state of lawlessness there. If you can bring in hundreds of kilos of drugs, there must be some grave wrong in that area and there is state of lawlessness there. It violates the Constitution. Now it endangers the security of our countrymen. Certainly, the President will have to do something about it," he added.

Panelo said "violence" does not only refer to physical violence. "When you say lawless violence, it’s not just physical violence. You do violence to the Constitution, you do violence to the law. It’s a state of lawlessness. The state of lawlessness would include state of lawless violence," he said.

He also clarified that the fielding of military personnel to temporarily oversee BOC aims to create the military presence that will hopefully "intimidate those corrupt people there".

Duterte designated former Armed Forces Chief-of-staff and Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Rey Leonardo Guerrero as the new BOC chief. Guerrero replaced Isidro Lapeña who was named as head of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Panelo said Guerrero got a "blanket" authority from the President to get rid of corruption in the graft-ridden bureau under Department of Finance.

"Guerrero will have to assess what is required and he will do it. I don’t know exactly what Commissioner Guerrero will do. He has the blanket authority from the President to do what is required under the law," he said.

Panelo said Guerrero must be given the opportunity and leeway on what must be done to stop corruption in the BOC.

"Being the principal and most important mission of the government, the President, as head thereof, cannot just turn his back to this constitutional command and actively succumb to another provision found in the same instrument," he said, referring to Article 16, Section 5(4) which provides "[n]o member of the armed forces in the active service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations or any of their subsidiaries".

"These critics demand decisive action from the administration but are more than quick to complain once a resolute decision has been reached by the President. Before they criticize, they should first understand a rudimentary principle in statutory construction that a law, or even the Constitution, must not be read in truncated parts," he said.

Panelo said Duterte, a former prosecutor, knows the limits of the power and authority of the President’s office. "Hence, our people can be assured that the directives by the President are well-studied, supported by the rule of law and, most importantly, intended solely for the benefit of our country," he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) also said that it is set to deploy around 115 personnel to take over positions at BOC. The PCG is still waiting for an official request from the BOC to formalize the deployment, according to spokesperson Capt. Armand Balilo. "Meron kaming mga 115 personnel na binigyan ng notice to prepare. Mga graduates ng Customs Administration. Pero hinihintay pa namin yung formal request," he said. (Jelly Musico and Aerol John Pateña)

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Letters from Davao: Washing dirty linen By Jun Ledesma

THIS CONTROVERSY OVER a load of shabu allegedly slipped through the Bureau of Customs in Cavite via a magnetic lifter is getting to be curiouser and curiouser. That surprises me however is the seemingly childish whining of PDEA Director Gen. Aaron Aquino blaming Customs Commissioner Sid Lapena for the lapses and other insinuations.

And I thought that duties and responsibilities had been delineated before Lapena and Aquino assumed their respective posts. The marching order of DoF Sec. Sonny Dominguez to Lapena was to increase revenue collection target and he delivered. When he was PDEA head, he dismantled nearly all of the shabu laboratories in the country and intercepted a number of shabu shipments that enter Philippines shores.

It is now the turn of Director Aquino and all we heard is passing the buck. And then comes Atty. Lourdes Mangaoang, Deputy Customs Collector at NAIA, joining the fray. She used to be head of the X-ray Division of BOC and for sure she knew that those magnetic lifters cannot escape her X-ray vision. If she had previous knowledge, how come she surfaced only now? What prompted Lapena to transfer her (she was not dismissed) to another division? What prompted her to go to Cavite to inspect the lifters by herself then reported to Lapena that the lifters had residues of shabu. Am curious.

A whistle blower had talked under investigation by Sen. Dick Gordon. He had pointed the masterminds and for as long as he is alive we will have the chance to go to the bottom of this mysterious P6.8-billion shabu shipment which seemed to be the only cheap commodity peddled in Manila today. Should not Aquino focus on this problem now and stop  blaming others and washing dirty linens in public? By the way things are going PDEA is helpless and hopeless in finding out where that huge volume of shabu went. (Jun Ledesma)

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