Customs exec tenders courtesy resignation after bribe allegation

Customs Import Assessment Service Director Milo Maestrecampo handed his courtesy resignation after he was accused of accepting bribes to allow the entry of smuggled goods into the country.

According to a report on QRT on Tuesday, Maestrecampo resigned as a matter of "delicadeza" as he presided over the customs unit accused of accepting more than P27,000 in bribes to allow the illegal entry of P6.4-billion worth of shabu into the Philippines.

Maestrecampo and several officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs were identified by customs broker Mark Taguba on Monday as among those who accepted bribes.

Maestrecampo emphasized he did not quit due to the accusation and believes his name and division were used to facilitate the transfer.

He added that Taguba, earlier granted legislative immunity by the House panel to allow him to testify in the case, may have been pressured to name him as a suspect.

Other Customs personnel named by Taguba include Customs deputy commissioner Teddy Raval, Manila International Container Port (MCIP) district collector Vincent Maronilla, MCIP Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service district intelligence officer Teodoro Sagaral, a deceased Major Gutierrez, CIIS director Neil Estrella, a certain Maita and Jayson.

The Import and Assessment Service director denied Taguba's allegations earlier but felt that he had already been affected by the accusations.

"I am not receiving money from illicit activities. I'm contented with my sahod. What I can say, when I go back to BOC, I will step down from my appointed post. I will submit everything." he said.

"I can probably be a rebel, but I'm not a thief," he added, referring to his previous role in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny. —Rie Takumi/JST/KVD, GMA News