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BECAUSE of the criticisms hurled on the hefty “cash-rewards”
given to the Bureau of Customs, the top official of that agency said
he is willing to return his P5.2-million incentive he got for the
bureau’s positive performance in 2006.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales clarified
that he is returning his share of reward not because of pressure
from the Senate, but to resolve a pending grievance of customs
employees on the distribution of rewards.
“I am willing to shell out the money to make
up for the amount that these complainants are claiming to be lacking
from their incentives,” Morales told reporters Monday.
Morales, who is also the chairman of the customs
grievance committee on distribution of rewards, said that he has
talked with other deputy commissioners and directors on how to make
up for the amount being contested by 80 customs personnel.
“Although there was already a committee and
there were guidelines to the distribution, no one can be blamed if
there were errors since this is the first for the bureau to receive
such rewards,” Morales said.
The Customs chief said that some of the
complaints came from people affected by the transfer of positions
and promotion in mid-2006, and that this may have caused some
confusion in their evaluations.
“Rewards are item-based. Some of the
complainants were transferred or reassigned, but when the rewards
were being computed, the committee based it on their items so they
complained that it was not correct,” Morales said.
To resolve the issue, Morales said he’s
willing to shell out money from his own incentives and that other
deputy commissioners of the bureau have also expressed the same.
“This is a small price to pay to resolve this
issue because the rest of the rewards have already been distributed,
especially for those that received small rewards,” Morales said.
Morales explained that his decision was not
caused by the criticism from the Senate because some senators scored
the incentives received by customs personnel for surpassing by P2.2
billion their target in 2006.
“We didn’t do anything illegal. There is an
enabling law, which is the Lateral Attrition Law passed in Congress.
There was a process and it was approved,” Morales said.
The Customs commissioner said the process in the
distribution of the rewards was approved by the Departments of
Finance and Budget and Management.
“This complaint will be addressed by the end
of July. We will also be reviewing and amending the guidelines for
distribution for the following years,” Morales added.
-- Anthony Vargas
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