Manila court stops transfer of 15 Customs collectors

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Manila Regional Trial Court has granted the plea of 15 collectors from the Bureau of Customs to put on hold their transfer a newly-created office under the Department of Finance.

In a six-page order, Judge Felicitas Laron-Cacanindin of the Manila court’s Branch 17 said the restraining order, extended from 72 hours to 17 days, would not affect the valuation on the merits of the case.

“The primordial question that needed answer at this point in time is whether or not petitioners will suffer irreparable damage from the implementation of the Customs Personnel Order,” the court’s order read.

The petitioners’ tenure as career and service was being put on the line, it said.
“At this point, this court is tentatively convinced that the right of the Customs personnel exists and the implementation of the assailed Customs Personnel Order (CPO) is violative of the petitioners rights,” the court said.

The 15 customs collectors on Tuesday asked for a temporary restraining order on their transfer, citing a lack of due process and violation of their security of tenure. They also filed a case of declaratory relief questioning the validity of the order.
In an order signed by Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon on September 17, 27 customs collectors would be detailed to the Customs Policy Research Office (CPRO), which was created by Executive Order No. 140. This office, which is under the finance department, is tasked to review tariff and customs administration policies.
The Customs order detailed “all 15 petitioners, together with 12 other collectors of customs, to an advisory capacity of a policy-coordinating body under the guise of reorganization, thus effectively rendering vacant the 27 positions of collectors of customs throughout the country.”

The customs collectors in their petition pointed out that it was beyond Biazon’s authority as Customs commissioner to transfer them to an agency outside of the BOC.
They said that their transfer was a scheme meant to constructively demote and dismiss them.