Customs reshuffle set

Up tO 150 Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel nationwide will be transferred to other units as the agency shifts to full computerization to do away with unnecessary export and import procedures, Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina said.

Lina told reporters that the reshuffle would be done “anytime soon,” even as such move was still under review by Department of Finance (DOF).

The DOF has nonetheless expressed to the BOC, an attached agency, that it would give its approval very soon, Lina said.

To be reshuffled are those employees involved in entry processing,  billing and liquidation units, Lina said, citing the redundant duties of employees assigned to these departments with brokers and computerized processes. Also to be affected are some Customs collectors and examiners, he added.

“We will not lay them off; we will just transfer them. This is one way to make customs processes faster—by implementing 100-percent computerization,” Lina explained.

Lina said a number of those affected by the revamp would likely be assigned to go on duty during weekends or extended working hours. The BOC now operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. even on Saturdays.