“The RATS had a lot of arrests and cases filed in court but, recently, the US agency announced that it would no longer support the RATS program.”
by Ducky Paredes
The District Collector of the Port of Manila (POM) is a very important person. He oversees the premier port of the country, which brings in at least 30 percent of the Bureau of Custom’s revenue.
In 2008, a total of 1,141,898 twenty equivalent unit (TEU) containers passed through the seven major collection districts of the bureau. Of this number, 32.48 percent (or 370,836 TEUs) were released, transferred and transshipped in this port.
For this year, the BOC’s target is P266.14 billion, which translates to P79.84 billion for the POM. Thus, the job is usually given to customs personnel with a lot of experience and is known achievers. It needs, at the minimum, someone with the expertise, the will and the appropriate know-how on customs collection. For BOC personnel, the expectation is that the post would go to someone who has been with the bureau for more than a few years and there are many who have been with the BOC for half a lifetime.
Recently, the President went into what is called “deep selection” in appointing the POM head. She chose Rogel Gatchalian, a lawyer and an engineer who joined the BOC only on February 20, 2007.
He seems to have led a charmed life in the BOC. Starting as Attorney III, he was promoted to Attorney V two years and five months later, on July 31, 2009 (skipping Attorney IV). Two months later, on October 6, Rogel was again promoted to Attorney VI, over several more senior personnel.
Was this because of his achievements as head of the Run-After-The-Smugglers (RATS) program funded by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation? The RATS had a lot of arrests and cases filed in court but, recently, the US agency announced that it would no longer support the RATS program, which s woefully failed to meet the US’ expectations, especially that majority of RATS’ cases have been dismissed by the DOJ for lack of evidence.
Everyone will usually accept deep selection of deserving officials. When deep selection is viewed to have been made for other than for the betterment of the service, it usually affects the morale not only of the people he bypassed, but also of the other officials and employees who have been in the service for a far longer period but have yet to receive their own promotion.
Five ranking Customs Collectors V who have been with the BOC far longer than the engineer-lawyer fired off a letter of protest to President Arroyo and to Chairman Bernardo Abesamis of the Career Executive Service Board.
The protesting officials cite a number of reasons why they question the lawyer’s appointment. Among them is the fact that Gatchalian is allegedly facing a string of unresolved graft charges and administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The cases were filed by the Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPs) of the Department of Finance. The RIPs is the unit mandated to go after people in the Department of Finance and its various operating agencies who are suspected of corrupt practices. They also cover officials and employees who, after being subjected to lifestyle checks, are found to possess material and financial assets beyond their established lawful income.
This is on top of the disbarment case filed against him and two other lawyers before the Supreme Court by the Professional Customs Brokers of the Philippines, Inc. The case has been referred to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for investigation and proper disposition. It is docketed as Case No. 8066.
There are equally serious concerns about the qualifications of Gatchalian to the post of POM district collector. Among other things, the position requires three years of experience in a supervisory capacity, plus the attendant eligibility as a Career Executive Service Officer (CESO), both of which he does not possess.
Gatchalian does not have the slightest experience in matters relating to customs assessment and customs operations. The protesting officials contend that his being a lawyer does not qualify him for the post as he does not even have the training and basic experience as Collector I, let alone of the much higher rank of Collector VI.
They point out that Gatchalian could not have acquired the needed experience since the functions pertaining to Customs assessment and operations are not even part of his job as Attorney III or Attorney V.
Gatchalian has no experience in assessment and customs operations because these are not part of the functions of his previous position as Attorney III and Attorney V. They also said that the minimum qualification standard for the post of Collector VI requires at least three years of supervisory experience and Civil Service eligibility as a Career Executive Service Officer (CESO), both of which Gatchalian does not possess.
They point out that Gatchalian could not possibly perform the duties and responsibilities of a Customs Collector VI since he does not have the training for the job, nor even the basic experience of a Collector I. He will be coming in as a neophyte in this particular job category, yet he will already be assuming the heavy responsibilities of a Collector VI.
Recently, the President directed Finance Secretary Gary Teves and Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales to pull out Gatchalian from the POM and reassign him to a minor port. Does this mean (as the Malacanang spin goes) that finally, President Arroyo, after nine years on the job, has learned to listen to the supplication of the lesser lights in her government?
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hvp 11.26.09
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