"What ever happened to President Duterte’s uncompromising stand against corruption in the government service?"
"What ever happened to President Duterte’s uncompromising stand against corruption in the government service?"
A ranking official at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has been brazenly building a public impression that he is untouchable on account of his closeness to President Duterte.
Although relatively new in the BOC, this official who holds two concurrent positions in the agency is wont to crowing that he is a godson of the President.
He apparently thinks that such connection with the powers-that-be elevate him above the law and that he has license to do as he pleases regardless of existing statutes.
His shameless braggadocio in both spoken word and body language rasps on the sensibilities of the rank and file, as well as the old-timers in the agency whose only concern is to discharge their respective jobs—honestly, sincerely, and well on a daily basis.
While they don’t openly talk about it, well-meaning BOC executives and their staff have little or no respect for the upstart Customs collection chief for obvious reasons.
But the biggest cause for their disenchantment with the presidential godson is his track record for poor performance.
This BOC official who presently heads the revenue-rich Manila International Container Port (MICP) keeps missing his collection targets. He is blind as a bat when it comes to hitting revenue marks.
Exhibit A: The report he submitted for the January-March 2019 collection showed he missed his mark by P3.488 billion.
The document showed that his target for Q1 was P43.069 billion but his report card stated only P39.581 billion. Customs insiders asserted that it was highly unlikely for the MICP not to meet its target if only the correct tariff rates and duties were implemented.
They traced the shortfall to suspected underhanded tactics meant to undermine the collections through by an unholy alliance between the importers and the collection agents.
In effect, a virtual gang of thieves exists at the MICP, robbing their employer, in this case the government per se, of mind-boggling amounts in unpaid taxes.
The cheats’ modus operandi involves faulty declaration of the importations at the behest of some MICP people in a devious plot to undercut the tariffs and other levies mandated by law.
Instead of applying the correct duties and taxes ranging from P180,000 to P220,000 per container for general merchandise commodity, the so-called “favored importers” were being coached to falsely declare their goods as single-item commodities which command much lower tariffs of P100,000 to P120,000 per container.
The rebates, with a P30,000-commission to boot, albeit illegal, strike the importers as an offer they cannot refuse.
In addition, the unscrupulous MICP officials have also allegedly formulated a tara (points) system of 5-50-250 meaning P5,000 per container, P50,000 for special containers, and P250,000 for the lifting of alerts for “service fee.”
That being said, we now raise the question: What ever happened to President Duterte’s uncompromising stand against corruption in the government service?
President Digong has vowed to weed out corruption within the first three to six months of his administration. We are now way beyond that promised state.
Anyway, more often than not, political promises are basically empty words that have neither soul nor substance.
And promises are like laws—both are meant to be broken.
* * *
The final cast.
It’s two days before election day and we have just received copies of the latest senatorial survey results, but not from the two largest polling firms but from two independent but reliable ones – Argus Polls, Inc. and The Center’s Pulso ng Pilipino.
The Argus survey was conducted from May 4 to 6 among 6,000 respondents while Pulso ng Pilipino was from April 29 to May 2 among 1,800 respondents.
While the two polling firms vary in the placing of the senatorial candidates, particularly on who will be landing on the top spot with Argus going for Cynthia Villar and The Center’s result going Grace Poe’s way, they basically much agree on who who will be landing on the winning circle except for two candidates. Argus has Koko Pimentel making it to the top 12 while The Center has Jinggoy Estrada.
Here’s how Argus sees it: Villar, Poe, Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa, Lito Lapid, Pimentel, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Francis Tolentino and Bong Revilla.
The Center: Poe, Villar, Go, Angara, Binay, Dela Rosa, Cayetano, Tolentino, Lapid, Marcos, Estrada, and Revilla.
However, it should be noted that the endorsement of the religious groups, especially the influential Iglesia ni Cristo, has not yet been factored in both surveys. Interestingly, Pimentel did not make it to the INC’s list, which could dramatically affect his winning chances.
At the same time, while Estrada was lucky enough to get INC’s nod, it was his brother JV Ejercito who was picked by other religious group, although those groups may not be as big and dominant as the INC.
Nonetheless, I pick on the Good One to send the self-proclaimed Anak ng Masa who’s saddled with plunder cases, packing up.