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Sunday, July 23, 2006
Palace says finance chief still has supervision over customs execs
* Malacańang denies cutting Secretary Teves’ powers over customs
THE Palace said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not clip the powers of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves to reassign officials in the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Presidential chief of staff said Teves still has the power to reshuffle officials in the BOC even with the revocation of Administrative Order (AO) 133 (strengthening the powers of the finance secretary over the BOC) by AO 156.
Defensor said the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) already empowers the finance secretary to reshuffle officials under his department.
He said AO 133 was only issued in Dec. 27, 2005 “for emphasis” because the BOC commissioner at that time was only there on acting capacity.
The Palace was forced to clarify the issue after Negros Oriental Representative Herminio Teves, father of Secretary Teves, reportedly said that his son should resign if his powers are being clipped.
Defensor said it was only a case of “miscommunication’ between father and son”. He said Secretary Teves called him up and asked that the issue be clarified by the Palace, after which the finance secretary talked to his father.
“I think in this case there?s a father and son problem here. It was just a father’s concern without necessarily deciding for Secretary Teves, who is a very capable and able secretary of finance,” he said.
“I was a bit worried about this because when it came out, it might affect the market due to misunderstanding, he added.
He also said the House of Representatives leadership is correcting a possible “awkward situation” that may arise if Congressman Teves assumes the chairmanship of the House ways and means committee.
“Congress itself is correcting that situation where you have a committee on ways and means chair who is the father of the finance secretary. Without Palace intervening, they are making their own arrangements. They understand that would be a very awkward situation. As far as governance, we can’t have that situation,” he said.
This developed as Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye assured that the economic managers are continuously reviewing the economic assumptions in order to align policies with global realities such as the rising oil prices.
Bunye said the economic team pores over the figures to ensure that the country’s economic gains are not eroded by adverse events.
“We are facing challenges but the bullish outlook is undiminished,” he said.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo has said the BSP is reassessing the economic assumptions to reflect global and domestic conditions, particularly the assumptions on oil prices.
Guinigundo has said implications on the foreign exchange, export and import growth assumptions and inflation would be considered.
The proposed changes will reportedly be taken up in the Development Budget Coordinating Council (DBCC) set this week. The DBCC expected oil prices at US$62 per barrel this year and US$63 per barrel next year but Dubai crude has already reached US$73 per barrel. (JMR/Sunnex)
(July 23, 2006 issue)
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