Customs staff accused of cursing hits back, points to fraud

MANILA, Philippines – An aide of Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon fired back against a female Customs employee, in turn accusing her of intending to defraud the government over an allegedly undervalued shipment.

In his 3-page affidavit, Michael Sabban, technical assistant for intelligence group (IG) concerns with the Office of the Commissioner, denied allegations that he humiliated Jeanette De Dios Dadural, Customs examiner of Section 1B, Port of Manila.

According to a Philippine Star report, Dadural had accused Sabban of cursing at her after the two argued over the release of an imported container being held under alert by the Office of the Commissioner.

She filed a 3-page complaint, accusing Sabban of violating Republic Act 9262, the law that penalizes violence against women and children, among others.

But Sabban denied that he cursed at the Customs examiner. He also said that Dadural made false claims in her narration of facts, and that her actions made her liable for graft and corruption charges and an administrative charge for grave misconduct.

Undervalued shipment

According to Sabban, Dadural had accompanied broker Dada Gatchalian outside the IG office to negotiate for the release of a container consigned to Berba Enterprise.

The shipment of various grocery items, which came from the US to China before entering Manila, was valued at $9,000 based on the initial declared valuation. But Sabban said that based on intelligence information from the US, the actual value of the goods was $132,722.

Dadural then asked for the basis of the valuation, saying that they could not simply adjust the declaration without basis. Sabban recalled that he was shocked by her statement.

“This statement of hers rather shocked me because Customs Examiners have no business in the adjustment of entry valuations, since it is the importer or broker who should do the voluntary adjustments of their declarations,” his affidavit read.

It was at this point that Sabban asked her whom she was working for, and why she seemed to be acting as lawyer for the importer.

“I again said, ‘Eh bakit nag-aabugado ka para sa kanila?’ ‘Kulang kayo sa pagmamahal sa bayan kaya ganyan ang trabaho nyo!”…’Sinasakripisyo niyo ang kikitain ng gobyerno sa pinaggagawa niyo,” he recalled saying.

(I again said, ‘Why are you acting as lawyer for them?’ ‘You have no love of country, that’s why that’s the way you do your job!’…’You’re sacrificing the government’s income with what you’re doing.)

When he saw Dadural’s signature on the entry details of the shipment, he also told her that she had a “big problem” and could be charged for her actions.

In Sabban’s narration, he denied uttering any expletives toward Dadural, although he acknowledged that he may have done so – though not directed at Dadural – as an expression of his strong emotions.

Grave misconduct

Sabban lodged a perjury complaint against Dadural for allegedly making false claims, including what he said were speculations about the alleged reactions of those hearing their conversation.

He added that Dadural was liable for graft and corruption because her computations “clearly defrauded or intends to defraud the government of what is due the latter.”

He also said that Dadural should be dismissed from service due to grave misconduct.

The BOC has long been tainted by corruption issues, with Filipino businessmen still considering it the most corrupt government agency due to a system that encourages importers to allegedly pay grease money for the speedy release of misdeclared and undervalued shipments.

The agency had been shamed and singled out by the previous admininistration in a national address, and given a warning by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a bid to stamp out corruption and bribery within the ranks of the agency, Duterte tapped former Philippine Marine captain Nicanor Faeldon to head the BOC.

One of Faeldon’s reforms included installing CCTV cameras and allowing a live stream of its office operations to promote transparency.

Earlier this month, CCTV footage caught a person allegedly accepting bribes. But the BOC later clarified that this was not an employee of the bureau. – Rappler.com