The National Bureau of Investigation has asked the Department of Justice to prosecute former Bureau of Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña and several unidentified individuals for criminal and administrative offenses in connection with the 105 container vans that were illegally released from the Port of Manila in March by port operator Asian Terminals Inc.
In a complaint filed with the DOJ, the NBI sought the indictment of Lapeña and others for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The NBI also asked the DOJ to administratively charge Lapeña with gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct.
“The manifest indifference of Lapeña to the established rules and procedures has led to the release of the shipments,” the NBI said, resulting in a loss of revenues for the government.
The container vans carrying assorted ceramic tiles with an estimated value of P69 million were illegally withdrawn from the Port of Manila.
Eighty-five container vans were recovered from the Homms Trading Corp. located at Block 2, Lot 3, Phase 5 Sterling Industrial Park, Libtong, Meycauayan, Bulacan in March.
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Follow-up operations resulted in the recovery of the remaining container vans, also in Bulacan.
The former BOC chief earlier said the container vans left the POM premises on March 17 even if it was not accompanied by the necessary documents such as a memorandum on the lifting of alert order approved by the Office of the Commissioner and an examination report.
The NBI also recommended that the Office of the Solicitor General review the Contract for Cargo Handling and Related Services entered into by and between the Philippine Ports Authority and Asian Terminals Inc.
The bureau noted that under the current setup, “it is clear that, even if the ATI personnel are engaged in smuggling and illegal activities, the Philippine Ports Authority could not, motu propio, institute a case for violation of Tariff and Customs laws” in case its personnel failed to exercise due diligence in the performance of their duties.
The NBI said Lapeña bypassed the bureau’s computerized processing system known as E2M (electronic to mobile system), which was fully accessible at the time of the issuance of the manual alert orders.
Lapeña also deliberately violated the memorandum that he himself approved when he issued the memorandum interposing no objection to the release of the shipments to the consignee in the Port of Cebu, despite being the subject of the continuing alert and the absence of any documents to support its release.
“[It is] worth to note that flagrant disregard of the rules is considered a gross misconduct where the elements of corruption, clear intent to violate the law, or flagrant disregard of an established rule must be manifest,” the NBI said adding that “to additionally affix his signature despite the lack of supporting documents only shows a gross and inexcusable disregard of the consequences of his act as approving authority.”
Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero has named two retired military generals as acting deputy commissioners of the graft-ridden agency in a bid to stop corruption.
The two former generals, retired Brig. Gen. Raniel Ramiro, and retired Lt. Gen. Donato San Juan, were both classmates of Guerrero at the Philippine Military Academy.
Guerrero denied “militarizing” the bureau with the appointment of the two former military generals, saying both are now considered civilians as they already retired from the military service and no longer connected with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He said there will be no military takeover since Customs officials will still run the bureau.
Ramiro will take the post as deputy commissioner for Intelligence vacated by another retired police general, Ricardo Quinto, a classmate of sacked BOC commissioner Lapeña.
San Juan, on the other hand, is new acting deputy commissioner for internal administration group, replacing Gladys Rosales, a top aide of Lapeña.
The new Customs chief said appointment of the two deputy commissioners is still subject to the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte.
President Duterte had earlier said that Customs officials “will be replaced, all of them, by military men.”
“It will be a takeover of the Armed Forces,” the President said, who was disappointed after “shabu” worth P11 billion slipped out of the bureau under the watch of Lapeña, who has been “promoted” to head the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
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