Incoming Customs chief Lapeña, other Duterte appointees sworn in

Incoming Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.net

Incoming Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña took his oath before President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday afternoon.

Lapeña told reporters before the oath taking that he would have the formal turnover on Wednesday morning at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“[What] I’m going to do is to call for a command conference and then from there I will be briefed by the different directors or the deputy commissioners and we should be able to plan out actions that has to be taken,” he said.

Asked about his plan to revamp the BOC, he said he would be bringing in a few people to the agency.

“In fact I will just be bringing initially a few people and I will work within the organization of the Bureau of Customs. Believe that many of them are good and I will be to work with them,” he said.

Aside from Lapeña, former Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso also took his oath as chairman of the North Luzon Railways Corporation.

Roberto Teo, husband of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, also took his oath as member of the board of directors of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines.

Duterte’s former professor Jose David Lapuz also took his oath as member of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM).

Philippine ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez also took his oath.

Sixty-five other new appointees in various government offices also took their oath of office before the President. JE