‘No intention to evade court ruling’– BOC spox

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has “no intention to evade” a court ruling ordering the government to proceed with a computerization program that was supposed to have been implemented more than 6 years ago.

In a talk with Pinoy Exposé, BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson, Atty. Vincent ‘Jett’ Maronilla said, “we want to assure all parties involved… ang posisyon ng bureau, hindi harangin, kung ano mang maganda ang idudulot ng proyekto.”

Maronilla was referring to the ‘Integrated Enhanced Customs Processing System’ (IECPS), which was first proposed during the Aquino administration as replacement to the bureau’s antiquated ‘Ayscuda’ computerized assessment system that was first installed during the Ramos administration (1992 -1998) with the assistance from the World Bank.

The bidding, which was supervised by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), was won by the joint venture of Omniprime Marketing and Intrasoft International but the result was set aside when Alberto Lina became customs commissioner in April 2015.

As it turned out, Lina is one of the owners of the losing bidder, the joint venture of E-Konek and Web Fontaine, which has managed to secure a contract for the use of its ‘E2M’ (electronic to mobile) platform up to now.

Lina’s decision forced Omniprime to sue him before the Ombudsman and before the Manila Regional Trial Court, along with a request for an injunction to stop the BOC from implementing projects similar to the IECPS.

There followed a long process of civil litigation that even reached the Supreme Court. But finally, last January 29, 2021, the court made an entry of judgement in favor of Omniprime.

A court entry of judgement means that no more appeals would be entertained by the court in relation to the decision.

Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero was supposed to appear before the court last December 6, 201, to explain the continued inability of the BOC to implement the IECPS but had to beg off at the last minute due to a congressional hearing on smuggling also held that day.

However, it was established during the hearing that the court’s ruling only refers to Omniprime being the legal and recognized winner of the bidding and this impels both the PS-DBM and the BOC to proceed with the continuation of the procurement process.

It was also established that the ‘post-qualification’ of the procurement process is still be held and that the contract awarding the project to Omniprime has not been perfected by the PS-DBM.

In a separate report to the court by Sheriff’s Office earlier, it was also found that years before, the entire budget of P650 million for the IECPS had been reverted to the National Treasury.

Explaining further, Maronilla assured that “kung ano man legitimate order of the court, susundin namin.”

Maronilla also assured that Guerrero has no intention to evade making his appearance before the sala of Branch 47 judge, Hon. Judge Paulino Gallegos, who is handling the case.

In a separate message to Pinoy Exposé, the customs chief claimed the reason why he is not commenting on the controversy is because of the sub judice rule on the pending case in court.

It is also the same explanation Guerrero gave to the Senate during its hearing last December 14, 2021 on smuggling.

 “Walang intensyon si commissioner na hindi magpaliwanag sa ating mga korte…nagkaroon lang na mga problema sa ibang trabaho… na kailangang ‘andun siya,” Maronilla said.

“We are committed to appear in the court and to explain to the court ang sitwasyon ng proyektong ito (IECPS),” the official added.

Maronilla also opined that before Omniprime demand for the BOC to allocate a budget for the IECPS, the “small details” such as the completion of the procurement process and the awarding of the contract by the DBM should be addressed first.