‘CUSTOMS BRIBES BIG ENOUGH TO WIPE OUT BUDGET DEFICIT’

CORRUPTION at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is so extensive that “payoffs” collected by bureau personnel could wipe out the government’s budget deficit in just two years, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday.

Lacson, who admitted obtaining information directly from customs brokers, lamented the practice of the so-called “three o’clock habit” at the BOC, which, he said, continues even under the leadership of Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.