Freeze order on Customs revamp holds up Belmonte’s entry in Cebu

A FREEZE order on the nationwide revamp in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) may affect the agency’s Cebu branch, according to some of its personnel.

Collector Ricardo Belmonte, who was designated as the BOC-Cebu district collector, was unable to report to his new post along with other deputy collectors since Sept. 25.

“The work and operations are still continuing but work is going so slow especially if we don’t have a district collector,” said one staffer who asked for anonymity.

No copy of the supposed freeze order reached Cebu yet and there was no official word on who would be acting as district collector.

Last Sept. 25, both Edward dela Cuesta and Ricardo Belmonte received a memorandum from the Office of the Commissioner directing them to assume their permanent plantilla position.

With the compliance of Customs Personnel Order No. B-134-2013 issued last Sept. 6, dela Cuesta will be assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) while Belmonte will be assigned at the Cebu port.

Last week, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima sent an order assigning all district collectors 5 and 6 to the Department of Finance (DOF) cluster on revenue generation.

Belmonte, dubbed as one of the “Three Kings” in the bureau for their influence and connections in government, is District Collector 6 which means he is included in the freeze revamp.

The two other “kings”, Rogel Gatchalian of the Port of Manila, and Carlos So of NAIA were included in the freeze revamp.

Cebu Daily News visited the BOC office and didn’t see any district collector or deputy collectors at their post. Last month, the BOC-Cebu district office collected P755 million.

A large part of the collection came from the P385,396,433.30 earned in the last public auction of smuggled Vietnam rice. Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag