TWENTY former members of the Magdalo group are likely to join the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
According to Customs Commissioner Nick Faeldon, a former Marine Captain, these former Magdalos have expressed willingness to join the bureau.
“There are 20 officers from our group before who are willing to join in a subordinate capacity,” he said.
The BOC chief added: “Definitely we will be beefing up the personnel of the bureau, madami tayong mga areas na hindi covered talaga. We need people who are very active in an outdoor function.”
He, however, did not reveal the names of those who will be joining the bureau.
Faeldon said that the new personnel will be embedded in the different collection districts “to do some things that they are very handy to do”.
The former Marine officer also defended the personnel coming from the group that staged Oakwood mutiny.
“These people, I have worked with them, I know how sincere they are in their efforts to help the government. I asked them to volunteer. At any rate, if you count the number of the non-soldiers that would be coming in against the soldiers I think wala pang 5 percent ang sundalo. It’s really a very small percentage that would be coming in,” he said.
The Magdalo group was made up of junior officers of all branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center in Makati in 2004.
They demanded the resignation of senior officers in the AFP and members of the Arroyo government, including the President herself. (FP/Sunnex)