BOC: 119 Customs personnel facing raps for various complaints

Photo from the Bureau of Customs

MANILA, Philippines — About 119 personnel of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) are now facing cases for various complaints, Customs chief Rey Leonardo Guerrero announced Tuesday.

Citing its mid-year report, Guerrero said that the agency filed 120 administrative and 20 criminal cases against its 119 active personnel.

There are also 27 other BOC officers who have been served show cause orders for alleged underperformance and corruption, Guerrero said.

The personnel facing complaints have been placed on “floating” status pending investigation.

Guerrero nevertheless said that these officers facing cases are assigned to the Compliance Monitoring Unit where they should appear and report every day.

According to Guerrero, the agency is only implementing the Ombudsman’s decision, in relation to the recent dismissal of seven BOC personnel for various offenses, including failure to flag a consignee later apprehended for smuggling shabu.

READ: Ombudsman orders dismissal of 7 Customs officials

It could be noted that from September 2017 to July 2019, six officials have been dismissed from service, five have been punished with one- to six-month suspensions, four have been reprimanded, and one has been fined an amount worth six months of salary.

Thirteen cases have been dismissed during the same period. /jpv