Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said he is ready to leave his post anytime after President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly offered the post to Davao-based businessman William de Jesus Lima during a dinner in Malacañang on Wednesday.
The agency under Guerrero failed to meet the 2019 revenue collection target and reportedly did not meet the monthly revenue collection targets since Guerrero assumed his post in 2018.
But Guerrero was not aware of the reports circulating that he was going to be replaced.
“We serve at the pleasure of the President. I’m a presidential appointee. I can be replaced anytime,” Guerrero said.
“Going to the question on what the news is, I personally do not know anything and I’m still waiting for guidance from the President and the secretary of Finance [Carlos Dominguez III].”
Customs posted a total of P630.571 billion in revenues against its P677-billion goal for 2019. Despite not meeting the target, Guerrero said the revenues in 2019 were 6.3 percent or P37 billion higher than the P593 billion in the total revenues collected in 2018.
Guerrero was appointed in October 2018, replacing former Customs chief Isidro Lapeña.
“I am an appointed official so it depends on the decision of the president,” he said.
Customs stakeholders welcomed President Duterte’s announcement to replace Guerrero, who expressed their disappointment at his programs that allegedly were disadvantageous to the transacting public.
Among these is allowing non-customs brokers to act as customs brokers, which they claimed was unfair and degrading to licensed customs brokers.
The Chamber of Customs Brokers Inc. said Guerrero’s order affected the more than 11,000 licensed customs brokers all over the Philippines.
“These brokers spent their collegiate years to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration degree and seven months to take the Customs Brokers Licensure Exam administered annually by the PRC,” the group said. With PNA