THE Bureau of Customs dispelled the alleged wrongful accusation that two of its top officials are involved in corrupt activities at the waterfront.
Atty. Vincent Maronilla, BOC spokesperson, in a brief statement, stressed that instead of engaging in intrigues, the BOC, under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, remains “focused” in helping the country’s economic recovery.
“The Bureau of Customs remains focused on our task in helping our country in its effort to recover from the effects of the pandemic against our economy,” Maronilla said.
Maronilla also defended his two colleagues, Atty. Vener Baquiran, Deputy Commissioner for Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group (RCMG) and Atty. Teddy Raval, Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement (EG), who were named in some news reports last week as allegedly involved in corrupt activities, among them, the controversial entry into the country of some P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs in 2017.
A prolonged Senate and congressional investigation on the scandal, however, cleared both officials of any participation in the incident.
“As in the previous years the bureau recognizes the hard work done by Deputy Commissioners Baquiran and Raval together with those of the other officers and personnel of the Bureau of Customs,” Maronilla said.
As RCMG head, Baquiran supervises the revenue collection efforts of the agency where from June 2021 up to May 2022, the BOC has consistently registered surplus collection, topped by the more than P29 billion BOC surplus tax collection for 2021.
As of May 2022, the BOC has also already collected over 47 percent of its assigned collection target of P679.23 billion due to surplus collection since the start of the year. For the month of May, the BOC also registered a surplus tax-take of more than P11 billion.
A prolonged Senate and congressional investigation on the scandal, however, cleared both officials of any participation in the 2017 shabu smuggling incident.
Aside from this, Baquiran also continues to supervise the litigation of some 200 smuggling cases that his office has filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) thru the BOC Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS).
Aside from supervising the Customs Police (Enforcement and Security Service, ESS), Raval, for his part, is also in charge of the government’s ‘Fuel Marking Program’ (FMP), aimed at combatting fuel smuggling while raising government revenue for oil products. In 2021, the government collected over P166 billion in additional revenue from the FMP.
It was also under Raval’s watch at the EG that the BOC is finally able to operationalize its Water Patrol Division that was formally launched last February by Guerrero and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.
In a brief statement, Baquiran and Raval also belied the accusation. “The allegation is malicious, unfounded and a downright lie. It is unfair to all concerned, to the customs leadership under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero and also, to us, because we were never given a chance to air our side.”
They also appealed to the media to “get all sides” before filing their reports “and in order to arrive at a balanced and fair news report.”