P-NOY SAYS, BoC CHIEF ALVAREZ ALREADY SACKED / ALVAREZ WILL BE REPLACED
MANILA, AUGUST 30, 2011 (TRIBUNE) By Virgilio J. Bugaoisan - EX-CUSTOMS CHIEF BLAMES SMUGGLERS BEHIND BID TO OUST HIM
Earlier denials of an impending top-level revamp at the Bureau of Customs (BoC), notwithstanding, President Aquino yesterday announced that he had sacked Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez who came under fire following the disclosure that 2,000 container vans vanished into thin air right under the nose of the Customs chief.
In pre-recorded interview over Radio Mindanao Network, Aquino disclosed that he had fired Alvarez and had found a replacement for him without giving a name, bolstering lingering speculations the President's action has long been a done deal although he tried very hard to deny it.
Aquino's announcement came a day before his scheduled five-day state visit to the People's Republic of China.
Alvarez, meanwhile, said he will start packing his bag after Aquino confirmed his dimissal.
"I serve at the pleasure of the President. As a presidential appointee, we are aware that we can be replaced anytime. I respect his decision. I will start packing my bags," Alvarez said.
Alvarez added his detractors have succeeded in removing him from office.
Last week, reports circulated that Alvarez resigned as Customs commissioner but which he denied.
Alvarez said that some lawmakers as well as smugglers affected by his anti-smuggling campaign have called for his resignation.
While there is no confirmation yet on who will replace him, Alvarez said that whoever will take over his position must be prepared because "politics" exist even inside the BOC. Alvarez said that he is happy to return to his private life and has not regretted accepting the BOC post.
The announcement of Aquino also puts a strange twist on the case of the missing container vans which reportedly cost the government some P3 billion in potential revenues as the president made earlier pronouncements that he would defer to the better judgment of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on how to deal with Alvarez and the case of the missing container vans.
Aquino still declined to name a replacement only describing the new Customs chief as somebody from the private sector although there are persistent speculations that the post has been offered to former Muntinglupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon,
A source said that since last week, Biazon's former congressional staff were already "excited on their boss' new assignment."
Aquino said that he is not at liberty to disclose the name of the incoming Customs chief and even the effectivity date of his appointment.
Aquino said Alvarez's replacement has already accepted his offer form him to take over Customs but upon the his request, the president said he is withholding the identity of his newest appointee.
Aquino said that the incoming Customs commissioner wanted to enjoy his last remaining days in private life as he admitted that he is really disappointed with the way Alvarez managed the Bureau.
Aquino said that the new Customs Commissioner will be given some "space" or the free hand to run the BOC and put it in order amid allegations of massive corruption in the bureau even under Aquino's straight path regime.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abegail Valte, who had been in the forefront of denying Alvarez' imminent departure from the BOC, also confirmed that the embattled Customs chief is on his way out.
"I can confirm that the President in an interview aired this morning that he has a replacement for chief of the Bureau of Customs. However, the President did not mention the name of the replacement such that we cannot mention any name neither I am aware of any date that the president has kept for the changing of the guard to take place," Valte said.
Valte said she is not sure on whether Alvarez has resigned or was fired but even b y own Alvarez's admission, he was obvious sacked by Aquino.
"I am not aware if Commissioner Alvarez resigned. I have been also getting queries from media.I really do not know. I think at this point it is best to ask Secretary Purisima because the BOC is under DOF. I'm not aware if they have also received, if the Office of the President has received any papers from Commissioner Alvarez. It's the long weekend and there's no office," Valte said.
But previous statements from Alvarez show he was fired as he had insisted that he will not resign from his post and would only leave the agency upon the orders of Aquino.
Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay lauded Aquino's decision saying he has finally come to his senses in booting out Alvarez from his post.
In a text message, Magsaysay expressed his gratitude to Aquino for seeing the wisdom in the oppisiton's call for Alvarez's resignation.
"I thank President Aquino for finally seeing the reasons behind our call to have Alvarez replaced as Custom Commissioner," said Magsaysay.
"First, he failed to arrest the rampant smuggling at the Customs. Second, the Customs, under his helm, fell short by P22 billion from its target collection, which could have been attributed to tese illegal activities. And third, there is a breakdown in the leadership at the BOC which is the very reason why this happened in the first place," Magsaysay stressed.
The past few months, Magsaysay had been very vocal in calling for the resignation of Alvarez. She however clarified it was not personal on her part.
"It's the role of Congress to look into misdeeds, it's nothing personal," said Magsaysay.
But while the feisty solon says she is gratified Aquino's decision to have Alvarez finally removed from office, she stress it doesn't mean that she had been transformed into an administration ally.
"I want President Aquino that I am not an enemy and that my sole purpose is to help him improve the performance of his administration by commenting on issues based on performance not on personalities," Magsaysay said.
"However, this doesn't mean I am jumping over the fence of the administration. I, and the rest of the members of the opposition, will continue to comment and criticize if there are needs to comment and criticize," the solon averred.
"But rest assured, we will always be a responsible opposition bloc. We will not be attacking just for the sake of attacking as what the previous opposition had done to the previous administration," Magsaysay said. "We will criticize if something needs to be criticized but we will do it constructively for the betterment of the government." Charlie V. Manalo
FROM DAILY INQUIRER
Alvarez will be replaced, says Aquino By Christine O. Avendaño, Tetch Torres INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:09 pm | Monday, August 29th, 2011
MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino confirmed on Mondayon his way to China that he will replace beleaguered Customs chief Angelito Alvarez but declined to say for now who the latter's replacement was.
Aquino confirmed in a radio interview last Sunday but was only aired by a radio station on Monday that he was not satisfied with Alvarez's performance and that he would be replaced. However, the President declined to name who will replace Alvarez saying only that the person had accepted his offer to head the BoC.
Meanwhile, Alvarez said he would start packing his bags at the BoC after Aquino confirmed that he would replace the BoC chief.
"I serve at the pleasure of the President. As a presidential appointee we are aware that we can be replaced anytime. I respect his decision. I will start packing my bags," Alvarez said.
Alvarez said his detractors have succeeded in removing him from office.
Last week, reports came out that Alvarez resigned from office which he denied.
Alvarez said some lawmakers as well as smugglers affected by the BoC's anti-smuggling campaign have called for his resignation.
While there has been no confirmation on who would replace him, Alvarez said whoever would take over his position must be prepared because "politics" existed even inside the BoC.
Alvarez added that he was happy to return to his private life and has not regretted accepting the BoC post.
Aquino said he had promised Alvarez's replacement a "little space" and that was why he won't identify the latter, who he said wanted to enjoy "the last days of quiet in his life."
Asked whether Alvarez's replacement was a politician, Mr. Aquino could only say the latter was from the "private sector."
The INQUIRER last week quoted Palace sources as saying that the President had asked former Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozanno Rufino "Ruffy" Biazon to head the BOC and that the latter had accepted the offer two weeks ago after being given more time to study it.
Biazon, a member of Mr. Aquino's Liberal Party, ran but lost in last year's senatorial elections.
TRIBUNE COMMENTARY
Noy's bag of surprises EDITORIAL 08/30/2011
The nation hasn't yet recovered from the surprise that Noynoy pulled in that secret meeting held with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, in Japan that many saw as a revival of the scuttled Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which sought to create the unconstitutional Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), now Malacañang has sprung another whammy in the $50-billion joint exploration agreement that may be brought up in Noynoy's visit to China starting Aug. 30.
The agreement sounds like another rerun of another controversial past deal. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking Agreement with China during the Arroyo administration was assailed as being grossly tilted toward China's since it allowed the exploration of areas which are not part of the disputed territories. The Senate then said that going through with the agreement would be an impeachable offense on the part of the President.
The Palace has not released any details on the agreement, merely giving an assurance that the administration would assure that the agreement would be fair on the benefits to be derived from it.
Likely, Noynoy would again put the agreement under wraps which will not be far from his reluctance to divulge any details on the Japan secret meeting.
Nevertheless, the Palace had stressed the point about "what is ours and what is theirs" to indicate certain attempts to include an area wider than the Spratlys during the exploratory negotiations with China. China was known to have angled to include areas as far as Palawan in the abandoned exploration agreement under the Arroyo administration.
There were other questionable side issues in the past joint exploration proposal, including indications that it was a precondition to several other agreements with China which would involve Chinese financing as part of what is being called as its soft diplomacy in spreading its influence in the region.
The previous administration was quick to exploit China's thrust to its advantage, thus, soft diplomacy became equated with potential hard and fast cash for those who would accede to the bidding of the Chinese.
Transparency is an imperative in this new agreement, from this stage when it is supposedly being negotiated in the ministerial level.
Its sheer amount indicates that it will be a major undertaking between both countries that may require a treaty which will need an approval from Congress.
The past experience on a similar deal in which many infirmities were exposed later may also be among the reasons that Noynoy needs to inform the public about every progress in the deal.
One of the assurances that the deal would be fair to both parties would be to let China know that the transparency requirement is basic in every dealing undertaken by the government, thus, Noynoy cannot use the alibi that the Chinese want to invoke secrecy of the negotiations.
For the negotiations to reach the ministerial level, it is presumed that detailed proposals from the administration have been put forward to China. This also needs to be divulged fully to the public.
But with the way Noynoy and his boys who keep claiming that theirs is a transparent administration, go about their secret ways, what is in fact occurring these days under the Aquino administration is its intent to keep the public in the dark.
It has also been noted that there has been a complete volte face from the campaign days to the first year in the presidential office of Noynoy.
The fact that there is too much hemming and hewing over the passage of the Freedom of Information bill on the part of Malacañang, already shows the great reluctance on the part of Noynoy and his boys to come clean with the public on too many of these secret deals.
The administration of Noynoy is increasingly becoming secretive about its affairs, discarding its vow about transparency.
And that is a very dangerous turn.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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