A “STATE of lawlessness” pervades the corruption-ridden Bureau of Customs (BoC), prompting President Duterte to call on the military to suppress the threat.
This was how presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo defended the constitutionality of the President’s order for a military takeover at the bureau, following the reported smuggling of a huge cache of shabu through magnetic lifters later found abandoned in a Cavite warehouse.
There may indeed be a “state of lawlessness” at the BoC today but the Constitution provides in Section 18, Article VII: “The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, or rebellion.”
The constitutional requirement for a military takeover is “lawless violence,” not just “state of lawlessness.” Figuratively, one might say lawlessness does violence to law and order, but legal and constitutional provisions are not open to interpretation as figures of speech. This is why many senators have questioned the presidential order which spokesman Panelo has defended.
Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said he supported the President’s move but urged Malacañang to clarify the military’s role in the bureau. He said he understood that the President has run out of patience over the problem of corruption at the BoC, leading to the need for “drastic measures.”
He added that the employees of the bureau cannot be removed and replaced by soldiers as this would violate civil service rules. He added that soldiers may be disciplined but they are not trained in Customs procedures, in assessing the value of imported goods and determining dues that must be paid.
The new Customs chief, Rey Leonardo Guerrero, appears to have a firmer grasp of the legal and constitutional issues involved. He said last Wednesday, after he was sworn in by President Duterte, “Let us correct the impression that there would be a militarization of the BoC. There will be personnel from the AFP that will support the BoC but that does not mean the BoC would be taken over by the military because clearly I am a civilian and I am head of the agency.” Guerrero is retired from the Armed Forces of the Philippines where he once served as chief-of-staff.
He said he will soon be meeting with Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez III and other concerned department secretaries to discuss details of the transition process at Customs. He said the President has given his guidance and he will now draw up plans to carry out an unrelenting campaign against corruption in the bureau.
The words of the new Customs chief should reassure all those who fear that a military takeover of the bureau would violate the Constitution.
