The Revenue Integrity Protection Service, or RIPS, the anticorruption arm of the Department of Finance, is planning to conduct lifestyle and tax liability checks on a number of Bureau of Customs personnel—including members of the so-called “Millionaires Club”—as part of the DOF’s short-term reform program for the graft-ridden agency.
This was disclosed to the Inquirer on Saturday by a top BOC official, who also said that the 27 district collectors who were recently transferred to the newly created Customs Policy Research Office (CPRO) of the DOF would be included in the twin investigations.
“It is common knowledge at customs that some of the collectors are members of the Millionaires Club, a few of them are actually billionaires, based on our initial inquiries,” the official said.
The same source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to speak to the media, confirmed this paper’s report that the collectors had been placed on “floating status.”
The RIPS lifestyle and tax liability investigations are “part of the mother RARP (or Revenue Administration Reform Project) of the finance department,” said the highly placed source.
“RIPS is tasked to strengthen the surveillance capacity and instill discipline, among other functions, in Department of Finance-attached agencies (like the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue) through administrative actions, such as temporary suspensions and dismissals,” the source said.
Financial rewards
Citing a DOF reform program report, the official also said that RIPS “focuses on the detection and punishment of all forms of malfeasance that revenue agents may commit to reach financial rewards” from the public, mainly taxpayers and traders.
“By increasing the likelihood of detection and punishment, the frequency of such incidents will decline, improve the image and performance of revenue-generating agencies and improve the country’s business climate,” the source added.
Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon told Department of Justice reporters on Friday that the port collectors were not demoted but “elevated” to the finance department, even as he insisted that his order reassigning them to the CPRO was valid.
He said five of the 15 who had sought the temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Manila Regional Trial Court had complied with his reassignment order and were reporting to the CPRO.
In a phone interview, Biazon told the Inquirer that the customs reform program was “moving in the right direction.”
“So far, so good,” said the former Muntinlupa City legislator, adding that he was happy with the program’s initial results.
Biazon said the district collectors could return to their ports of origin while the TRO was in effect. The Manila RTC on Friday extended for 20 days, including the original 72-hour respite, or until Oct. 20, the court order without the need to post bond.
1000% performance
Over the weekend, he called on the district collectors to meet their collection targets if they wanted to stay at their posts.
“While they are there, my expectation is that they would perform to the best of their abilities while the TRO is in effect. They should show that they are port collectors. They should show 1,000 percent performance… Who knows, maybe after the 17-day (TRO) period, they would be able to change the mind of the (DOF) and the leadership would say the district collectors are doing OK and they would no longer be transferred (to the CPRO),” said Biazon, noting that the TRO did not hamper customs operations.
The TRO petitioners had claimed that the CPO was beyond the powers of Biazon to transfer them to a body outside the BOC. They said their transfer was part of a plan to demote and dismiss them.
When interviewed on Saturday, another BOC source said the next round of customs personnel reconfigurations, also involving officials, “will be made shortly.”
The source identified some of the officials covered by the revamp, but asked not to publish their names.
“After that will just be snipings,” the source said.