MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte is looking to remove brokers and examiners from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to significantly reduce corruption within the agency.
“Ang gusto ko wala nang brokers, pag may brokers, may corruption talaga yan,” Duterte told reporters on Tuesday night in Malacañang.
The president believes that if brokers and examiners are eliminated from the system, the persistent corruption in the BOC would be addressed.
“Kung gusto nilang walang corruption, tanggalin natin yung mga ano gross, wala nang examiners, sa Customs, wala ng brokers,” he said.
The Chief Executive suggested that instead of brokers, the BOC may be allowed to accredit or designate individuals or companies to arrange their shipment.
“Ang kumpanya may accreditation lang sila, sila na mismo ang magtrabaho duon,” he said.
Duterte has been lamenting the corruption in the BOC, prompting him to order a revamp and make agency leadership changes. So far, the president has appointed three BOC chiefs – first was Nicanor Faeldon, followed by Isidro Lapeña and then current chief Rey Leonado Guerrero.
The president said he would not wait for Congress to pass a law eliminating transactions with brokers.
“There are things which I have to do that Congress cannot tinker with. Those are one of them because that is to save the country from perdition,” he said.
Duterte, however, said this was just his proposal and urged BOC employees to ignore” brokers they dealt with before.
“You ignore the brokers. You go to a broker, I will not deal with you,” he said.
Following Duterte’s proposal, BOC executives met on Wednesday to discuss the drafting of a new system which will eliminate the use of brokers in the processing of shipments in the port area.
“We have been putting up (a system) right now and the initiatives along this line. We hope that it will lessen the transaction that is being done specifically that with the brokers,” said Bien Datuin of BOC Public Information and Assistance Division (PIAD). RRD (with details from Correspondent Aiko Miguel)
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