Alvarez won’t quit as Customs chief over missing container vans

MANILA, Philippines—Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez on Wednesday rejected calls for his resignation amid disclosures that some 2,000 container vans disappeared from the Port of Manila, which caused the government to lose more than P240 million in potential revenues in 2011.

In a statement, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) chief described the calls for his removal from office as “unjust and undeserved.”

“Some people had lost sight of the fact that it was I who uncovered the missing container scam and that I had ordered the concerned officials of the Bureau to explain the discrepancy in the transshipment data long before the start of the congressional inquiry on this matter,” Alvarez said.

The commissioner said he appreciated the comment of Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas, who said that he did not share the view in favor of Alvarez’s ouster.

“It is good that we now hear about such smuggling activities, although belated. It was Commissioner Alvarez who brought this matter out instead of sweeping it under the rug. We should give him credit for such. He has ordered a thorough investigation, a copy of the initial results of which has been furnished our committee,” Fariñas had said.

Alvarez added that his “determination” to stamp out smuggling and corruption in the BoC remained strong despite the onset of serious obstacles.

Alvarez said his crusade to make smuggling unprofitable had resulted in the filing of 42 smuggling cases in the last 13 months with claims totaling P53 billion.

This was in compliance with President Aquino’s instruction for the agency to file at least one smuggling case every two weeks, he said.

Alvarez said, “In between these fortnightly filings, our agency’s revitalized campaign against smuggling has resulted in the seizure of more than P2 billion worth of assorted commodities that were either misdeclared, undervalued or misclassified by their importers.”

Alvarez said he believed that the problem of unaccounted for containers in Batangas, which the House of Representatives has been investigating, could just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

He said he had ordered the BoC’s Post-Entry Audit Group to conduct a nationwide audit on all transshipments covering prior years.

As a permanent solution to this problem, Alvarez said he had ordered a ban on transshipment except for those bound for export processing zones and customs bonded warehouses.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali accused one of the BoC’s deputy commissioners, Gregorio Chavez, of being one of the protectors of the alleged smuggler behind the missing container vans.

Chavez vehemently denied Umali’s accusation.