Lacson speech on continued corruption at BOC has basis — ex-Customs chief Lapeña

Former Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña on Wednesday said Senator Panfilo Lacson's recent privilege speech on the supposedly continuing corruption at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has basis.

Lacson said last week that he had learned the "tara system" at the bureau has not been suppressed, two years after he exposed the names of Customs officials whom he alleged received bribes to facilitate the entry of shipments into the country.

In his speech, Lacson, a former National Police chief, said the Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) receives an average of P5,000 per container plus 10% of the collections of each section/office directly under OCOM; P3,000 for Intelligence Group; P1,000 to P2,000 for Enforcement Group; P3,000 for Risk Management Office; and P2,000 to P3,000 for Import and Assessment Service.

He added that the Manila International Container Port and Port of Manila district offices receive P3,000 per container and each container with alert order may be charged as high as P50,000.

Lacson said he was leaving it up to Customs chief Ray Guerrero to investigate the matter, adding that he believes the retired military general is untainted by corruption.

Has basis

"'Yung privilege speech ni Senator Lacson, I would say, has basis, 'yung sinabi niya," Lapeña, who now heads the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), said at a news forum in Manila.

"Kung anong tanong mo ay ga'no kahirap 'yung situation, I would say na mahirap 'yung situation doon but it is something that can be addressed, puwede pa ring ma-reform," he added.

However, the former Customs chief refused to comment on the current situation at the bureau and said he is concentrating on his job as TESDA director-general.

Lapeña said he tried the reform route during his time as Customs chief and noted that Lacson did not mention his term in the privilege speech. He said he considered his efforts "effective" because the bureau collected what he said were record-high revenues while he was at its helm for more than a year.

President Rodrigo Duterte assigned Lapeña to TESDA and designated then-Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Rey Leonardo Guerrero as Customs commissioner in October 2018.

The reshuffling happened amid a multibillion-peso drug smuggling controversy, in which authorities seized two magnetic lifters containing shabu at the Manila International Container Port and four empty lifters believed to have contained massive amounts of the drug in Cavite on two consecutive days last August.

Lapeña faces a graft complaint for allegedly failing to initiate legal action against those involved in the smuggling. The Department of Justice endorsed the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman for preliminary investigation.

"I know that will turn out in my favor. I did what I had to do when I was commissioner," the former Customs chief told reporters, expressing confidence the complaint will be dismissed. — RSJ, GMA News