ES Ochoa tried to influence appointments at Customs, sources say

It was Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa who tried to get John Sevilla, who resigned as Customs commissioner on Thursday citing political pressure, to appoint Teddy Raval as head of the bureau's intelligence service, sources have told GMA News.

Sevilla had pointed to the request for him to appoint Raval, the Customs Intellectual Property Rights Division head, as head of the Enforcement and Security Service as an example of the political pressure he faced at the bureau.

"Walang ibang dahilan na binibigay para sa appontment ni Attorney Raval," he had explained on Thursday. "Malakas ang tulak na ma-promote sa matataas na posisyon sa Customs.

"Kapag nangyayari ang ganyan, pinu-push ang ganyan, ako ay nagdududa sa kanilang motivations."

According to Sevilla, he discovered that the pressure on him came from the Iglesia ni Cristo. The church has yet to comment on the issue, but the sources told GMA News TV program "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" that the church backed Raval's appointment as intelligence service head.

The sources also said that Ochoa had initially called a deputy Customs commissioner to push for Raval's appointment. But the deputy commissioner refused, and instead, relayed Ochoa's request to Sevilla.

Sevilla also refused to appoint Raval as head of the intelligence service.

GMA News attempted to reach both the Iglesia ni Cristo and Ochoa for reactions, but neither had commented as of posting time.

Meanwhile, the Palace has distanced itself from Sevilla's statements on Raval.

“We have not received any appointment paper regarding that particular person. We do not have any knowledge or background on what former Customs Commissioner Sevilla intimated in the interviews he gave after his resignation,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said Friday.

According to the Official Gazette, the executive secretary's job was "to directly assist the president in the management of affairs of the government as well as to direct the operations of the Executive Office." — JDS/DVM, GMA News