Surigao customs official put in freezer
A Bureau of Customs official in Surigao province has been ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for refusing to release a shipment belonging to a mining company.
In a nine-page ruling, the Ombudsman suspended acting Collector Lilibeth Mangsal of the Port of Surigao for 30 days without pay after she was found guilty of simple neglect of duty.
The antigraft body directed Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to immediately implement the order, which was signed by Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Rodolfo Elman on Nov. 3, but was released only on Nov. 25.
The case against Mangsal stemmed from three separate complaints filed by Century Summit Carrier Inc., represented by lawyer Stephen Cascolan, which accused her of demanding that the mining company hire her nephew as its cargo broker.
Aside from her failure to process the documents pertaining to Century’s shipment, Mangsal also purportedly failed to collect the required duties and refused to answer the letters sent by Edgar Paling Jr., the mining firm’s broker.
In its ruling, the Ombudsman said the customs official was “clearly remiss in the performance of a duty expressly mandated by law.”
“Responding to letters and inquiries is a duty mandated by law and, hence, must be observed… (Mangsal’s) failure to respond to the four letters, or to even acknowledge her office’s receipt thereof, constitutes neglect of this duty,” the antigraft body ruled.
In its complaint, Century said its cargo aboard the MV Century Summit 3 arrived in the Philippines from China on Aug. 13, 2014.
According to Cascolan, Mangsal “advised” the mining company to dock the vessel in Surigao instead of the Port of Cebu and told it to hire her nephew as its broker.
“Considering that the company’s affiliate has operations within her jurisdiction, we felt compelled to heed her advice,” Cascolan said.
He said Mangsal’s nephew failed to process the entry of the shipment and so Century decided to engage the services of Paling after two weeks.
The lawyer said Mangsal then failed to reply to the four letters they sent asking her to immediately process and release the cargo, which was then still on the ship anchored off the Surigao port.
