Employees of the Bureau of Customs have sought a lifestyle check on ranking officials of the Bureau for their alleged lavish lifestyle.
In a letter addressed to Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, the BoC employees, calling themselves “The Real Concerned Employees of BoC,” said a lifestyle check was in order, especially for officials who have been linked to several irregularities.
“We are asking you, Hon. Commissioner Lapeña, to look into the Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth of these officials and their actual lifestyle because you would see the big difference,” the BoC employees said in their letter.
They claimed that in the Facebook accounts of these officials, they own luxury cars, live in impressive houses and are often traveling in style with their family and friends.
The employees asked Lapeña to subject two employees assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to an “extensive and exhaustive lifestyle check.”
“We are one with you in your organization task to rebuild the much-maligned image of the Bureau and bring back the respect that it long deserve as an institution and collectively as civil servants,” the employees said.
Meanwhile, Blue Ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon has proposed changes in the bureau’s policy to address the unabated entry of smuggled goods, including illegal drugs.
Gordon said the government lost P900 billion in uncollected duties and taxes.
“There has been a marked improvement in the BoC’s collections. But there were still illegal shipments which past slipped our authorities. It’s alarming that tons of shabu are entering the country right through the guardian of our ports. This is especially so when there is a furor because people are killed for mere sachets of shabu,” Gordon said.
The senator said all consignees should be registered to stop the practice of “consignees-for-hire” or “consignee-on-record” which only enables syndicates to bring in smuggled shipments.
He also suggested that BOC should ensure that consignees have registered warehouses. Trucking companies doing business with consignees should likewise be duly-registered with the BOC.”‹