Aquino gives vent to displeasure with customs chief

BEIJING, China – President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday night expressed his dissatisfaction with Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez, who he said was being replaced by the middle of September.

Asked to comment on Alvarez’s recent statements that President Aquino was being fed the wrong information regarding the Bureau of Customs, the Chief Executive said, “Can I just smile away his sentiments?”

“He had a year to do the things that I have tasked and I’m not satisfied,” the President told reporters during a break from his activities while on a state visit to China.

“For instance, wasn’t it during the campaign when I said my ambition was for us to go after smugglers? Literally, I would be the one to run after these container vans. Did it happen? Where’s the data that would have led to them? What’s painful is even the container vans got lost,” he added.

The President said Alvarez didn’t deliver on assignments given him.

“There are certain things that I’ve been asking – I’ve asked the supervisor which is the secretary of finance – and I wasn’t given an answer that I enjoyed or that I liked. Certain priorities, let me put it that way, certain priorities of mine, I think, were not attended to,” he added.

Aquino indicated that he has also already chosen Alvarez’s replacement.

“I promised the one who’d be replacing [Alvarez] that he has until September 16. His wife, who reluctantly said yes, requested if they could have their last few quiet moments. It appears their anniversary is near the 16th,” Mr. Aquino said.

“So with the Calvary the person would be entering [into], perhaps his request for a few moments of quiet is no longer too much,” he added.