Nothing official yet on Cabinet revamp

NOTHING is official about news reports of Cabinet changes until the President himself says so.

This was Malacañang’s reaction on Saturday to a statement by a Palace source the other day that Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez may be on the way out in the wake of a controversy involving the smuggling of expensive vehicles and motorcycles into Mindanao.

Alvarez said his conscience was clear, blamed his “detractors” for the report and vowed to get to the bottom of the smuggling mess so that those responsible would pay.

“All are just speculation,” the President’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, said on government radio, commenting on the reported plan of Mr. Aquino to remove Alvarez as head of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“It’s not useful to keep on speculating, especially if it goes nowhere. It only becomes official once the President confirms it,” Valte said on the report coming from an unidentified Palace source.

“As of this time, I think we’re all guessing,” Valte said on radio dzRB.

Valte said any announcement on a Cabinet change was “a matter of time.” She did not elaborate.

Another job

A source close to Mr. Aquino told the Inquirer the other day that Alvarez “perhaps will no longer be” at the Bureau of Customs in July and that he might be replaced by former Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, or former Cagayan Rep. Manuel Mamba, both allies of Mr. Aquino in the Liberal Party.

The source had asked not to be identified for lack of authority to talk to the media.

The report that Alvarez’s days at the BOC may be numbered followed Mr. Aquino’s statement on Friday upon his return from a visit to Thailand that he might reassign an official in his Cabinet to another job if the official failed to resolve certain issues affecting his agency.

Mr. Aquino said he would still need to talk to the official.

‘Height of cruelty’

Alvarez, in a statement, said his hands were clean and that the reported smuggling of luxury cars and motorcycles into Mindanao happened before his time.

“Given a clear conscience, I believe I am in a good position to get to the bottom of this, not only to make the guilty parties pay for their crime but also … to ensure that reforms are implemented and safeguards put in place to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”

Stressing that he had been in office for only 11 months, Alvarez added: “The obvious conclusion is that those vehicles cleared customs long before my appointment as customs commissioner.”

“The alleged smuggling of luxury cars and motorcycles did not happen under my watch so it is the height of cruelty for people with vested interest to make me pay for somebody else’s sin of commission,” he said.

Alvarez pointed out that the vehicles that the National Bureau of Investigation had seized from Lynard Allan Bigcas were registered at the Land Transportation Office branches in Tubud, Lanao del Norte, and in Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

No let-up

On Friday, Alvarez said he had ordered the bureau’s Internal Inquiry and Prosecution Division to investigate the incident, which may involve some customs personnel.

In his statement, Alvarez said that “until the President tells me my time is up, there will be no let-up in my campaign to plant the seeds of reform and renewal in the BOC.”

He claimed that under his command, the Bureau of Customs had been breaking the collection records of all previous commissioners “while making great headway in our campaign to make smuggling unprofitable.”

He also cited a Pulse Asia study which, he said, showed “a dramatic decline” in the corruption rating of the bureau.

‘Balikbayan boxes’

Bigcas, a Mindanao-based luxury vehicle dealer, faced an inquiry at the House of Representatives recently after the NBI discovered 29 smuggled luxury cars and big bikes in his possession. They included a P3.4-million Martin Brothers “chopper” supposedly stolen from Hollywood screenwriter Skip Woods.

Bigcas told legislators that he brought into the country “chop-chop” parts of expensive motorbikes which were delivered in “balikbayan boxes” through the door-to-door system, avoiding payment of customs duties.

In a recent interview, Mr. Aquino expressed dissatisfaction with the Bureau of Customs despite its increased collections. He specifically mentioned the controversy triggered by the smuggled vehicles.

The President indicated in that interview that there would be changes in the bureau.

“The collections have increased, but I’m not satisfied,” he said.

Citing the case of the smuggled vehicles, he noted that “the first statement from the Bureau of Customs was they (officials) didn’t know how they got here … They were the watchmen of these goods. How come they didn’t know what happened?”

Mr. Aquino said at the time that the public could expect changes in “about two months.”

‘Other lapses’

The Malacañang official who told the Inquirer of Alvarez’s possible removal said the Mindanao smuggling case wasn’t the only issue.

“He has many other lapses,” the official said. With a report from Norman Bordadora