Corruption complaints vs BOC go down

COMPLAINTS of corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have gone down in the last five years, according to the Office of the Ombudsman.

From 117 complaints in 2011, the Ombudsman received 70 complaints of alleged corruption against customs officials in 2015.

The BOC is one of the most notoriously graft-ridden government agencies. It placed 10th among the agencies with the most number of graft complaints last year.

The top subjects of corruption complaints have been the local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine National Police, both of which have consistently topped the Ombudsman’s list of government agencies with the biggest number of corruption complaints against them.

The number of complaints filed against local government executives rose by 31 percent to 2,697 last year compared with 2,053 complaints in 2014.

Complaints against PNP officers and members increased slightly from 1,258 in 2014 to 1,265 in 2015.

“In contrast, the Bureau of Customs registered a downward trend with 177 cases in 2011, 81 cases in 2012, 76 in 2013, 84 in 2014 and 70 in 2015,” the Ombudsman said.

It said it counted both the criminal and administrative complaints.

The corruption complaints list had the Armed Forces of the Philippines in third place, followed by the Department of Education, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, state universities and colleges, Department of Agriculture, Department of Finance, Department of Agrarian Reform, with the Bureau of Customs rounding out the list in 10th place.