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MANILA, Philippines – Lourdes Mangaoang, the former X-ray division chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) was sacked as deputy collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) because she was not doing her job well, Customs spokesman Erastus Austria said on Monday, October 22.
“She was not transferred to silence her, but because she was underperforming,” Austria told Rappler in a phone interview.
This comes after documents obtained by Rappler showed that Commissioner Isidro Lapeña sacked Mangaoang just 11 days before she spoke before the Senate blue ribbon committee, flagging their X-ray division for having failed to follow standard operating procedures.
In a message to Rappler on Monday, Mangaoang disputed Austria’s claim, saying Lapeña had removed her from the NAIA post to give her a warning if she testified against him.
“He sacked me in order to intimidate me and to warn me that, if I testify against him, the worst will happen to me,” Mangaoang said.
She pointed out that her assignment at the airport was too short for an evaluation.
“I assumed office in NAIA on August 27. The assessment period is one month. The [order] reassigning me to CMU (Customs Monitoring Unit) was dated September 12. Wala pang one month (That’s not even a month yet),” she explained.
Mangaoang received on September 10 the invitation to testify before the Senate, and said Lapeña received a copy of it as he was her boss. Mangaoang said Lapeña expected her to speak out, thus the reassignment.
Austria denied Mangaoang’s claim, explaining that Mangaoang was not ordered to leave the customs service but to only be assigned in the CMU, where officers who underperformed or are facing complaints are usually placed.
In a document dated September 12, the same day as Mangaoang’s reassignment order, Customs chief Lapeña asked for a lifestyle check on Mangaoang, as he suspected corruption.
Mangaoang has so far kept her position as NAIA deputy collector for passenger services, pending the resolution of the appeal she filed with the Civil Service Commission. – Rappler.com
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