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Friday, March 29, 2024

Palace: Lapeña no sacred cow

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Malacañang on Tuesday said there will be no sacred cows in the government’s fight against smuggling after former Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña was charged with graft over the alleged illegal release of 105 containers filled with ceramic tiles in March.

“No one, friends or political foes alike, is spared in our fight against corruption,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“The National Bureau of Investigation [NBI] has a mandate to fulfill and its action is proof that the President shall not shield those upon whom a shadow of doubt has been cast,” he added.

READ: BOC mess haunts Lapeña

The NBI has asked the Department of Justice to institute legal proceedings against Lapeña for the questionable release of 105 container vans despite an alert order from the Port of Manila.

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“Good governance is the hallmark of the Duterte administration and this latest development is a reaffirmation of the President’s commitment against all forms of corruption and illegality,” Panelo said.

However, Panelo emphasized that the former Customs chief is considered innocent until proven otherwise.

“We point out that Technical and Education Skills Development Authority Director General Lapeña has the constitutional right to be presumed innocent. Until and unless proven otherwise, he still enjoys the trust and confidence of the appointing authority who happens to be the President,” Panelo said.

The containers in question arrived in the country between January and March 2018 and were able to exit the port using fake documents.

According to the Asian Terminal Inc., it was Lapeña who also ordered the release of the 105 container vans, 85 of which have been recovered by Customs agents in warehouses in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

In an earlier statement, ATI said it “can only process containers for release from the port after the Bureau of Customs issues the release instruction through the OLRS [Online Release System].”

It added: “Issuance of the OLRS instruction means that all duties and taxes have been paid and that there are no holds or special stops on the container. ATI does not have any control over BOC’s alert system.”

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