AT FIRST glance, a recent directive from newly-installed Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner and former military general Ray Leonardo Guerrero imposing a “no letter request, no interview policy” on all reporters covering the bureau seems to validate fears that there is truth to the militarization of the BOC.
However, a closer inspection of the directive will reveal that the new BOC commissioner may simply be establishing guidelines on how the flow of information should be managed by the bureau particularly when dealing with sensitive matters.
Based on the explanation of the bureau’s Public Information and Assistance Division (PIAD), the directive will be limited with respect to reactions or comments issued by Custom officials in connection with controversial and other important matters regarding the bureau.
One would also think that a more logical reason for the restrictive policy may have to do with the fact that Guerrero being a former military man will surely adhere to the idiom that loose lips sinks ships. This is actually the discipline that is needed considering that the BOC commissioner may have already discovered how porous the walls are at the BOC and how easily sensitive matters are being let out and sold to those who continue to corrupt the bureau.
By regulating the information that flows out of the BOC perhaps Commissioner Guerrero may finally be able to pinpoint those officials and employees who dictate the tempo of illegal transactions occurring daily within their jurisdictions and who may have used and manipulated members of the Fourth Estate for their own vested interests.
Also, the policy may be seen as an attempt by Guerrero to expose those in the Fourth Estate who may have wittingly or unwittingly allowed themselves to be used by unscrupulous individuals to consummate illegal transactions and dealings within the bureau.
As already observed and pointed out previously, the BOC has become a nest of the most nefarious of criminal syndicates who will cajole, bribe, coerce, intimidate or even threaten anybody who will attempt to put a stop to their illegal operations in the bureau. Nothing short of firing everyone in the BOC will end the corruption that has already permeated the very roots of the said agency.
At best, Commissioner Guerrero may be able to reduce the amount of corruption occurring daily in the BOC and make it extremely difficult for drug syndicates to transport their “shabu” using the country’s ports.
For now, reporters covering the BOC will just have to schedule their appointments with Customs officials especially those handling sensitive matters and comply with the directive.
In hindsight, the policy signals a new approach on how to instill discipline in the BOC and how serious Commissioner Guerrero is in his attempt to put a stop to corruption in the bureau.