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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
THE president of the militant
5,000-strong Bureau of Customs Employees Association (BOCEA) was
relieved from his post as principal examiner for alleged involvement
in technical smuggling activities that resulted in millions of pesos
in revenue losses to the customs bureau.
Ordered relieved from his post by
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, on recommendation of the
Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), was Romy Pagulayan,
principal examiner assigned at Section 10 of the formal entry
division of the Port of Manila (PoM).
Investigation revealed that
Pagulayan approved the release of four container vans of misdeclared
onions worth at least some P5 million.
In his report, the PASG chief,
Undersecretary Antonio Villar, pointed out that Section 10 is only
tasked to handle importation of hardware materials. Hence,
Pagulayan’s approval of the shipments’ release was anomalous.
Onions, is classified as
vegetable, along with other food stuff, is handled by Section 1.
Each collection district of the
BoC has 13 different sections, each assigned with specific kind of
imported materials to be assessed for payment of the corresponding
duties and taxes.
The PASG pointed out that
Pagulayan, a veteran principal appraiser, knows that the onion
shipment was misdeclared and outside of his section’s
jurisdiction, yet he approved its release.
Aside from smuggled onions, it
was learned that Pagulayan also faces probe for the alleged
fraudulent release of millions of pesos worth of used clothing or
“ukay-ukay,” which were also seized by the PASG.
Importation of used clothing is
banned by the government unless it has prior approval from the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, and intended only for
donation.
Pagulayan is temporarily detailed
without any job assignment at the office of PoM Collector Horacio
Suansing, pending the filing of administrative and criminal charges
against him.
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