Friday, May 09, 2008 Customs gives reward money to Port of Cebu officials, workers
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is giving P8,500 each to all officials and employees of the Port of Cebu as reward money from the government for collecting more than their target in 2006.
The amount is their share in the P500-million reward the National Government gave the BOC.
District Collector Ricardo Belmonte said they are grateful because even if they fell short of the target by .5 percent in 2006, the Office of the Commissioner still decided to give them a share, which came from the Rewards and Incentives Fund created for the purpose.
The release of the reward money was approved by the Department of Finance (DOF) pursuant to Republic Act 9335 or the Attrition Act of 2005, which intended to improve the revenue collection of the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The law provides that BOC and BIR collection districts will receive 15 percent of the first 30 percent surplus collection, and 20 percent of the excess.
Those who fail to meet the target are recommended to be dismissed from service either because the shortfall is a result of their being remiss in their duties and responsibilities, or because of circumstances beyond their control.
Penalty
However, there is a tolerable limit of 7.5 percent shortfall before a penalty is imposed on officials and employees who miss their target.
This is the reason why Port of Cebu officials and employees will still receive their share of P8,500 each even if they missed their target.
Several personnel of the Port of Cebu decided not to accept their reward after learning that their counterparts in Luzon received P300,000, while others received more.
Those who aired their grievances on condition of anonymity said that they are saddened by the big disparity because all of them tried their best to collect duties and taxes for the government.
They said that ordinary Customs employees at the Port of Batangas and the Port of Manila would receive a minimum of P300,000, adding that the law is demoralizing and unfair.
But Collector Ma. Lourdes V. Mangaoang, the incumbent chief of the BOC X-ray Monitoring Project that covers Customs operations nationwide, said the reward money is a gift to those who exceeded the target.
Mangaoang said that Rep. Danilo Suarez, the author of the Attrition Law, even complained why the BOC is giving a share of the reward to BOC ports that failed to meet the target in 2006. (EOB)
