Customs padrinos named
EXECUTIVE Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. were identified as among the personalities acting as padrinos or godfathers to some ranking officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who do not wish to be removed or reassigned somewhere else.
According to a an unimpeachable source of The Manila Times, Ochoa, touted as the Little President, and Belmonte, the fourth most powerful official in the country, have been protecting people at the bureau.
Belmonte and Ochoa are among the government officials who act as power brokers and protectors to ensure that their men at the Bureau of Customs remain in their posts, the source, whose credibility is beyond question, said.
He noted that Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) Collector Ricardo Boysie Belmonte is a brother of the Speaker, while Customs Deputy Commissioner Peter Manzano is Ochoas man in the agency.
There are many in the bureau who have their own backers, he added.
The source mentioned Customs Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Director Fernandino Tuazon, Deputy Commissioner Horacio Suansing, Deputy Commissioner Prudencio Reyes, Port of Manila Collector Rogel Gatchalian, NAIA District Collector Ding So, X-Ray Division chief Collector Mimi Talusan and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) chief Richard Rebong.
Last January, Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Ruffy Biazon ordered a reshuffle of officials to include Belmonte and Gatchalian. But the source said the two, who are among the so-called three kings at the bureau, have not been dislodged despite failing miserably in curbing corruption and hitting their target collections.
The source said Tuazon also enjoys Ochoas protection.
Tuazon is among those being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the controversial 2,000 containers loaded with highly taxable goods worth P2 billion that disappeared on the way from the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port to the Port of Batangas.
But even then, Tuazon got his present post following the retirement of Director Filomeno Vicencio.
Suansing was former Port of Manila collector. He is from Iloilo and a close relative of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. Gatchalian is reportedly a protégé of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, while Talusan is related to the Singsons of Ilocos Sur.
Reyes, So and Rebong were reportedly being supported by a powerful religious sect.
Rebong is also one the controversial officials at the bureau. Before his appointment as CIIS chief, he was an Intelligence Officer 1 with a salary grade of 8.
But Rebong was promoted to CIIS chief with a salary grade 25 or 17 degrees higher.
Last year, the Civil Service Commission issued a decision ousting Rebong as CIIS chief for being unqualified. The CSC order has not been carried out.
Source: Customs ?padrinos? named | The Manila Times Online
EXECUTIVE Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. were identified as among the personalities acting as padrinos or godfathers to some ranking officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who do not wish to be removed or reassigned somewhere else.
According to a an unimpeachable source of The Manila Times, Ochoa, touted as the Little President, and Belmonte, the fourth most powerful official in the country, have been protecting people at the bureau.
Belmonte and Ochoa are among the government officials who act as power brokers and protectors to ensure that their men at the Bureau of Customs remain in their posts, the source, whose credibility is beyond question, said.
He noted that Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) Collector Ricardo Boysie Belmonte is a brother of the Speaker, while Customs Deputy Commissioner Peter Manzano is Ochoas man in the agency.
There are many in the bureau who have their own backers, he added.
The source mentioned Customs Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Director Fernandino Tuazon, Deputy Commissioner Horacio Suansing, Deputy Commissioner Prudencio Reyes, Port of Manila Collector Rogel Gatchalian, NAIA District Collector Ding So, X-Ray Division chief Collector Mimi Talusan and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) chief Richard Rebong.
Last January, Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Ruffy Biazon ordered a reshuffle of officials to include Belmonte and Gatchalian. But the source said the two, who are among the so-called three kings at the bureau, have not been dislodged despite failing miserably in curbing corruption and hitting their target collections.
The source said Tuazon also enjoys Ochoas protection.
Tuazon is among those being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the controversial 2,000 containers loaded with highly taxable goods worth P2 billion that disappeared on the way from the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port to the Port of Batangas.
But even then, Tuazon got his present post following the retirement of Director Filomeno Vicencio.
Suansing was former Port of Manila collector. He is from Iloilo and a close relative of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. Gatchalian is reportedly a protégé of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, while Talusan is related to the Singsons of Ilocos Sur.
Reyes, So and Rebong were reportedly being supported by a powerful religious sect.
Rebong is also one the controversial officials at the bureau. Before his appointment as CIIS chief, he was an Intelligence Officer 1 with a salary grade of 8.
But Rebong was promoted to CIIS chief with a salary grade 25 or 17 degrees higher.
Last year, the Civil Service Commission issued a decision ousting Rebong as CIIS chief for being unqualified. The CSC order has not been carried out.
Source: Customs ?padrinos? named | The Manila Times Online