N. Samar solon urges new admin: Get ‘the best’ people for Customs, take the ‘garbage’ out

Northern Samar 1st District Representative Paul Daza on Wednesday appealed to incoming Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno to choose the “rightful people” for the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

In a speech delivered at the House of Representatives, Daza underscored that choosing the “best ones” for the job is critical to economic recovery that will greatly reliant on efficiency in revenue collection.

“Good governance begins with choosing the best and the brightest—and this includes choosing the right ones for critical agencies such as the BOC. We must be wary of certain personalities and groups that may have plans to ‘hostage’ the chances of our country,” he said.

“There’s a so-called Samar group in the BOC—composed of insiders, brokers, and fixers. We’re giving Secretary Diokno advance warning not to allow these people to sabotage the lofty goals of the government and BoC especially now—when revenue generation is critical to the economy,” he added.

He then also called on incoming President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, and Diokno to include the BOC in their priorities of “cleansing.”

“Please don't bring garbage anymore in the Bureau of Customs. Let’s listen to the people—linisin natin ang ating bakuran [let us clean our backyard], let’s take the garbage out. Huwag na po tayong magpasok ng basura [let us not bring in garbage],” Daza said.

Marcos announced that Diokno would be the chief of the Department of Finance in his administration.

Marcos was earlier asked about issues of corruption within the Bureau of Internal Revenue and BOC, he answered “Kalimutan na lang natin yung nakaraan [Let’s forget the past].”

He said that he would only go after individuals found to be involved in corruption activities under his term. He stressed that there should be no place for corruption in the government.

"Ah corruption? Kalimutan na lang natin 'yung nakaraan. Sasabihin natin, 'Ah sige that's not under my watch, hindi ako, hindi ako namamahala noon eh. Ngayon ako na namamahala, so wala nang ganyan," Marcos said.

(Let's forget about the past. I'll say, 'That's not under my watch, it's not under my administration. Now that it's my administration, corruption will have no place.) — BM, GMA News