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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
New customs collector assumes post
The leadership of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu was transferred from District Collector Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang to District Collector Ricardo Belmonte in a turnover ceremony yesterday morning.
Belmonte told reporters that his main concern is how to meet the collection target, which he said must be joint effort of all officials and personnel of the Port of Cebu.
“I am not Superman who can say I can raise the revenue collection immediately upon my arrival here in Cebu,” said Belmonte, who was the district collector of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which, like the Port of Cebu, failed to hit the collection target.
He said revenue collections in most ports decreased because the country has not fully recovered from economic crisis.
While the economic growth in Cebu is consistent, international shipments are more on exports than imports. Export goods are not taxed.
Support
Mangaoang went to Cebu City Hall yesterday and thanked Mayor Tomas Osmeña for his support.
“She wanted to thank me for my support and to say goodbye. She said she likes Cebu very much. She’s grateful that the community and businessmen have supported her,” he told a news conference yesterday.
And to Belmonte, the mayor said, “Let’s see what happens. I don’t really monitor these things unless there are complaints.
I’m just double-checking. I presume that his backer is his brother, the mayor of Quezon City. As long as he is not one of those politicians who are just trying to control our customs, we’ll just give him a chance,” Osmeña said.
Few changes at the Port of Cebu are expected in the next few weeks.
Belmonte said he will first meet his subordinates officials and personnel and find out the problems and how the system works before moving people.
“I don’t expect to understand the problem here right away, but I am confident that little by little, I will probably be able to digest these things,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte denied that he was transferred to Cebu because some politicians lobbied for it and that it is in relation to the December Asean summit.
“I cannot answer that. I really don’t know why I was transferred to Cebu. They just told me that you go to Cebu and, as a good soldier, I am here,” he said.
Performance
He also said it’s difficult for him to be transferred to Cebu because his family is in Manila.
Belmonte is a brother of Quezon City Mayor and former congressman Sonny Belmonte.
Belmonte said he has no problem with Mangaoang whom he had worked with at NAIA for several years and whom he described as an intelligent lawyer.
Mangaoang, for her part, thanked the port stakeholders such as the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation, Mactan Export Processing Zone Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers for supporting her during her stint in Cebu.
“These people are the true judge of my performance,” Mangaoang said, adding that they have helped her in carrying reforms in the bureau.
“I am proud to say that under my administration, BOC Cebu was able to stretch line procedures. We cut down red tape.
Before I was transferred to Cebu, the import entries were processed for days, weeks and even months. This was reduced to two to three hours only for the imported shipment to be released, and ten to 20 minutes for export shipments to be loaded to the vessel,” Mangaoang said.
She came to Cebu from Cagayan de Oro City in May last year. She is now assigned to Iloilo. (EOB/GAC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 18, 2006 issue)
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