Escudero calls for systemic changes in Bureau of Customs

MANILA — Instead of abolishing the Bureau of Customs, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero suggested that the government try reforms that would not only rehabilitate the image of the agency but also change the culture of its officials and employees.

Escudero, for instance, suggested that customs officials and police have uniforms without pockets to discourage quick on-site doles and transparent glass-top tables with no drawers to prevent heftier enveloped payouts in the offices.

“And if they will not do it, I will file a bill requiring CCTV cameras in all government offices and making it a crime to erase the recordings of these cameras until after perhaps one year,” Escudero told the Inquirer.

The chairman of the Senate committee on justice claimed that the PNP, another reputedly corrupt government agency, had an image makeover after it shed its old khakis and brown ties for its present blue uniform./Inquirer