Blue Ribbon panel seeks further probe into BOC officials, brokers

After investigating the issue for a year, the Senate Blue Ribbon panel has recommended further investigation by the Justice department into former and current officials of the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as well as private citizens in connection with the smuggling of at least P6.8 billion worth of shabu into the country.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Report released on Monday afternoon recommended that the following be probed for possible criminal and civil liabilities:  ex-police Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto; former PDEA Deputy Director General Ismael Fajardo; former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban; SMYD Trading owner Marina Signapan; broker Katrina Grace Cuasay; private citizens Joseph Dimayuga and Gorgonio Necessario; self-confessed broker/businessman Meg Santos; X-ray examiner Noli Martinez; appraiser Girlie Umali; and examiner Jenaline Garcia.

“Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. We find that the following needs be further investigated by the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman, and by other concerned agencies of government for both administrative, and/or criminal culpability,” the Committee Report read.

Others whom the Senate Blue Ribbon panel want further investigated are foreigners KC Chan, Hsu Chung-Chun, Zhang Quan, Lin Tien Yi, Lou Tian Yi, Chen Minxuan, "Fung," and Ping Cheung James, who were either spotted in the warehouse in Cavite where the emptied magnetic lifters were found or were involved in renting the warehouse.

“We fear for the country and for its citizens, and thus, the need to investigate more in order to determine with certainty all the people responsible for these abhorrent acts,” the Committee report added.

The Senate Blue Ribbon panel also sought lifestyle checks for the aforementioned individuals, as well as a probe into their deposits by the Anti- Money Laundering Council.

Amendment

The Senate panel chaired by Senator Richard Gordon also pushed for the amendment of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act to declare shipments as abandoned within a period of three days, as opposed to the current period of thirty days; conduct periodic training of X-ray examiners; and create a Customs Academy.

Guban earlier said it was Acierto who alerted him of an incoming shipment that contained shabu.

Guban also said that he and Acierto even worked together to apprehend it—a complete turnaround of his previous claim that it was Acierto who asked him to pick a consignee for shipping two magnetic lifters in Cavite.

Guban said it all started when he informed Acierto that Vecaba Trading, the importer of the concerned shipment, was not an accredited importer of the Bureau of Customs.

Under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, those who are found guilty of importation of dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals will face a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million.

The sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of illegal drugs, on the other hand, carry a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000.00 to P10 million.

The same penalties will also be imposed on those drug pushers who use minors or mentally incapacitated individuals as runners, couriers and messengers, or in any other capacity directly connected to the dangerous drugs and/or controlled precursors and essential chemical trade. — Llanesca T. Panti/BM, GMA News