RESIGNED Customs intelligence chief Neil Estrella claimed Monday he had been receiving death threats from unknown people in the wake of the alleged attempt to smuggle in P6.4 billion worth of shabu from Customs.
Estrella was among the high-ranking Customs officials allegedly receiving weekly payoffs from Customs broker Mark Taguba to speed up the release of his shipments, a charge that he denies.
In the House, Rep. Lito Atienza on Monday asked his colleagues to scrap the extra P4.2-billion annual funding requested by the Bureau of Customs to fill up more than 3,000 vacant positions, saying that was unnecessary.
He also pressed for the passage of a new law requiring the pre-shipment inspection abroad of all imports bound for the Philippines.
“Nobody can fix the rampant corruption and gross inadequacy at the BoC. Not even Isidro Lapeña,” said Atienza, referring to the outgoing director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency who will take his oath on Tuesday as the new Customs commissioner.
“There’s no point in wasting billions of pesos to double the number of Customs staff.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Raneo Abu on Monday defended the House committee on dangerous drugs’ decision not to include former and active basketball players from criminal prosecution as a result of their employment at the Bureau of Customs as technical assistants.
“The liability falls on those who hired and approved their employment if they were qualified or not,” Abu said.
Abu was commenting on the report of the panel led by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on the alleged attempt to smuggle in P6.4-billion shabu from Customs, which is now being signed by its members for final approval.
Atienza authored House Bill 6220, which calls for the compulsory pre-shipment inspection or advance clearance of all foreign cargoes headed for the Philippines.
He said Customs had been “set up to fail” in its mission to protect the country against illegal shipments and to collect the exact import duties and taxes.
He said rotten Customs officials and employees did not want the bureau to succeed in its job.
“They want the BoC to stay inefficient because they thrive on inefficiency”•because corruption thrives on inefficiency,” Atienza said.
“The day the bureau becomes truly effective at its job is also the day corrupt examiners and agents lose their lucrative rackets.”
Atienza said the only viable intervention left was for Congress to require the prior screening overseas of all shipments destined for the Philippines.
“Once we have pre-shipment inspection, the BoC will actually need fewer staff because the bureau will be performing less work,” Atienza said.
In the proposed P3.767-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2018, Customs is seeking to spend an additional P4.2 billion to fill up 3,233 vacant positions.
