BOC sacks former military generals for not raising revenues

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is appointing eight new district collectors to replace the current lineup composed of former military generals who supposedly failed to improve revenue collections.

The BOC has identified the next-in-line officers to replace the five retired generals and two other former military officers detailed as district commissioners under the Finance Department's Office of Revenue Agency Modernization (ORAM).

According to the BOC, the old-timers at the bureau will take over as district collectors:

• Clark International Airport – Cecilio Vicento Gallo to replace Esteban A. Castro

• Batangas Port – Reynaldo Galeno to replace Ernesto P. Benitez

• Manila Port – Nicky Earl Hortillas to replace Mario A. Mendoza

• Manila International Container Port – Antonio Pascual to replace Elmir S. dela Cruz

• Cebu Port – Rico Rey Francis Holganza to replace Arnulfo V. Marcos

• Port of Zamboanga – Benhur Arabani to replace  Jerry A. Loresco

• San Fernando Port – Romeo Allan Rosqueta Rosales to replace Bonifacio T. de Castro

"Except for Limay port's Rolando R. Ricafrente whose next-in-rank is still being considered, the retired generals will be replaced by next-in-rank officers effective immediately," the BOC said.

In 2013, the Department of Finance reassigned district collectors to the Customs Policy Research Office and replaced them with retired generals under the ORAM.

The budgetary requirements of the ORAM-detailed officers were specifically denied by the Congress under the 2016 General Appropriations Act.

Field experience

Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo wanted the retired military and police generals removed from the BOC for allegedly failing to raise revenues as they lack the necessary background in collecting taxes and duties.

"After more than a year and a half, these generals have not improved revenue collection. What can you expect from them who have no background in customs administration and yet were given organic supervision over organic Customs personnel?" Gunigundo said.

For his part, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said that the new collectors are old-timers with better field experience.

"We trust that the next-in-line officers know that the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines by heart – the appropriate Customs valuations and assessments, and duties and taxes," he said in an emailed statement.

"We also need a strengthened push in terms of our investigations against smugglers and getting convictions," he added.

The BOC registered a cumulative decline of P366.9 billion in revenues last year at P2.3 billion or 0.6 percent lower than the previous year. The total collections in 2015 also failed to meet the collection target of P436.5 billion by P69.6 billion.

Last December alone, the total collections at P37.1 billion fell short of the P39.4 billion target by 5.8 percent or P2.2 billion.

The bureau, however, noted there was a 20 percent or P5.4 billion increase in the actual cash collection during the month from a year earlier.

The top performers for 2015, which overshot their respective targets were Zamboanga (P175 million), Legaspi (P290 million), and Iloilo (P2.3 billion).

On the other hand, the poor performers which fell short of the target were Appari (P455 million), Limay (P23 billion), and San Fernando (P835 million). – Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News