BETTER DAYS Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero (right) chats with lawyer Teodoro Jumamil, then his chief of staff, at a news briefing in January 2019. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles urged on Wednesday Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to bar and declare as a persona non grata in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) his former aide who was called out by President Duterte for alleged corruption.
Nograles sought for Guerrero to declare Teodoro Jumamil as an unwanted person in all BOC facilities to “ensure that [the latter] can no longer assert any amount of influence over his former office and other stakeholders.”
“To ensure that all illegal transactions that Jumamil allegedly facilitated when he was with the BOC is completely stopped, and for the Office of the Ombudsman be given the free hand to investigate the allegations against him by no less than President Duterte, I believe that Commissioner Guerrero should declare Jumamil a persona non grata,” he said.
More than a year ago
Jumamil was reportedly fired by Guerrero as his chief of staff in July 2019 over corruption allegations.
But in a national address shown on television on Tuesday, President Duterte bared he almost sacked Guerrero for not immediately firing Jumamil who was working in the BOC while also serving as a director of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
“This very grave allegation by no less than the President must be taken seriously … Guerrero should take immediate action, or he too will become a suspect,” said Nograles, vice chair of the House energy and youth and sports development committees.
Public notice
Saying Jumamil should be barred from any BOC facility pending the investigation against him, he asked Guerrero to issue a memorandum addressed to all, including all port operators and brokers, warning the public on transacting with his former aide.
He said this would show Guerrero’s commitment “to follow the call of the President.’’
Nograles said Jumamil’s name had been “notorious for quite some time now especially when he was appointed as Guerrero’s chief of staff despite his reputation.”
Still liable
“I recall directly asking the customs commissioner in a hearing last year if Jumamil is active in customs and he said no. Unfortunately, no less than the President called this out and I’m glad he did because he was projecting an impression that he was a President’s man,” Nograles said.
“This action of the President should repudiate this belief and people should help the government build a case against [Jumamil],” he said.
Nograles also sought an investigation into Jumamil’s appointment as a DBP director as he noted that “double compensation of a government official is illegal.’’
“It has been reported in Congress as early as last year, and I hope that with the President calling for action, the proper investigations by the Ombudsman will be unhampered,” he said.