5 BOC employees charged of smuggling rice, relieved and suspended
Five employees of Bureau of Customs (BOC) will face smuggling charges filed against them by the said agency. Commissioner Angelito Alvarez relieved Customs examiners Vicitacion Difontorum, Theresa Agabao, Margarita Santiago, and acting document processors Taha Cali and Glen Ollero.
The five employees, relieved yesterday and placed on preventive suspension, were implicated in the smuggling of 312,400 sacks of rice into the country that deprived the government of P183 million in revenue. They were suspected of assisting Lamberto Espiritu, the importer and owner of Point Given Marketing whose office is in Vito Cruz, Malate Manila, and Customs broker Allan Jay de Vera Gahon in this smuggling activity.
The BOC’s Run After the Smugglers (RATS) group also filed at the Department of Justice (DOJ) charges for violation of the provisions of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) and the Revised Penal Code (RPC) against the five bureau personnel, Espiritu and Gahon.
This act is to send a strong warning to employees that the criminal liability of officials accused of conniving with smugglers is equivalent to the criminal liability of brokers and consignees, Alvarez said.
The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) of the Department of Finance (DOF) will conduct lifestyle checks on the five bureau employees.
Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Purisima encouraged the public to visit the DOF website www.perangbayan.com and cooperate with the efforts of the government to curb smuggling and tax evasion in the country. The website is a feedback mechanism where the public can report the performance of civil servants.
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