Guerrero meets with Lapeña, to assume post as Customs Chief on Tuesday

Newly minted Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero is expected to assume his new post next after his meeting with his predecessor, Isidro Lapeña, on Friday.

According to a report by Jun Veneracion aired over “24 Oras”, the turnover is set on Tuesday since the employees of the Bureau of Customs are already anxious that the controversy over the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu in the country which prompted the second change of leadership in one year and two months could mean instability in the bureau.

Lapeña's departure from the BOC was announced by President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night, a day after Lapeña conceded that the empty magnetic lifters seized in Cavite, which was identical to the magnetic lifters nabbed in the Manila International Container Terminal, contained shabu. Lapeña had previously denied this by disputing the findings of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Lapeña was appointed Director General of the Technical Education, Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) also on Thursday.

He expressed no regret about his stint at the BOC.

“I have done what should be done by a commissioner. Talaga naman hindi 100 percent na ma stop 'yan," Lapeña said about corruption in the agency.

Former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon was also replaced as Customs Chief in August 2017 due to the smuggling of P6.4 billion shabu shipment in May 2017 which not only bypassed the Bureau of Customs but even went through its green or express lane.

And like Lapeña, Faeldon was also reappointed as Deputy Administration of Operations for the Office of Civil Defense in December 2017.

A day before firing him, Duterte had vouched for Lapeña, saying that he is good and has served with him in his hometown of Davao City for 15 years.

Prior to being a Customs Commissioner, Lapeña served as the Director General of PDEA and head of Davao City’s public safety command center.

Faeldon, on the other hand, has remained in the good graces of President Duterte, with the Chief Executive even serving as the godfather of Faeldon's son during the latter's baptism last April.

Lawyer and Bureau of Customs Deputy Collector Lourdes Mangaoang, for her part, is hopeful that Guerrero will do a better job than his predecessor.

It was Mangaoang who accused Lapeña 0f feigning ignorance on x-ray scans showing that the emptied magnetic lifters seized in Cavite last August 8 contained billions worth of shabu.

“I hope that he will be sincere in reforming the Bureau of Customs, and I hope that he will tap the services of knowledgeable people with vast experience in the Bureau...people who would know procedures. Kasi kung hindi mo alam ang procedure, hindi mo madidiskubre ang katiwalian,” Mangaoang said in an earlier interview with DZBB.

“Kahit mabait ka, kung 'di mo alam kung sino ang tarantado at mabait diyan sa Customs, baka pagkatiwalaan mo ang demonyo,” she added. —Llanesca T. Panti/JST, GMA News