PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte clarified Tuesday, November 6, that he merely wanted the "presence" of the military at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in an effort to stop irregularities within the bureau.
The President's latest statement recanted his remark over a week ago that he wanted a "military takeover" of the BOC.
Duterte, during the lecture on militarization and drugs, stressed that he did not appoint members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to civilian posts.
"Now ngayon, sabi nila na (they said that it) it violates the Constitution and the operative words there [is] the prohibition of appointment or designation," the President said.
"When I called in the Army to help the Bureau of Customs, there was no designation, there was no appointment and there was never an instruction for them to take over the functions of the employee," he added.
On October 28, Duterte said he was "forced" to take drastic move by allowing the military to have control over the BOC, noting that "dirty games" were being played at the bureau.
The proposed military takeover of the BOC, however, has earned strong opposition from Duterte's critics.
Section 3, Article 2 of the 1987 Constitution provides that "civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military."
Section 5(4), Article 16 of the Constitution also states that "no member of the armed forces in the active service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the government, including government-owned or -controlled corporations or any subsidiaries."
Earlier, Malacañang defended Duterte's plan to let the AFP take over the operations of the BOC after all the bureau personnel were placed on "floating status," noting that the Commander-in-Chief's order was "constitutional" and merely "temporary."
Duterte said he only termed it as a "military takeover" since the new BOC chief, Rey Leonardo Guerrero, was a former AFP chief-of-staff.
"Hindi naman Army. Sinabi ko, (It's not the army, I said) it will be a government military takeover because ang ilagay ko in the meantime, ‘yung chief, is a -- would be another military man (the BOC chief would be another military man)," he said.
"And that is part of the law and order situation. It has nothing to do with designation or appointment of any person. I’m just trying to control crime. I have not designated any sergeant to take over the evaluation or assessment of the value," he added. (SunStar Philippines)