PRESIDENT Duterte has started the cleansing of unfit civil servants or those perceived to be corrupt. The first to fall from the presidential ax are officers and employees of the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
These are among the national government agencies where fixers abound that victimize those who transact business or renew their motor vehicle registration or drivers’ licenses.
Many are asking when will President Duterte start purging inept and perceived to be corrupt employees in the office of the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)? These are among the government agencies perceived to be corrupt.
Cebu Customs Collector Koko Holganza, in a chance conversation, told me that he already banned fixers at the Customs offices. However, some importers complained that fixers still do their thing misrepresenting themselves as licensed brokers.
Ricky Gantuangco, executive vice president of the Chamber of Cebu Brokers, Inc., said that the fixers at the BoC had jeopardized the names of the legitimate and licensed customs brokers and the brokerage companies.
Well, it’s about time the iron hand of President Duterte pounds on these agencies believed to be graft-ridden.
Aside from eradicating the illegal drugs trade and running after the illegal drugs traders, President Duterte, during the campaign, also promised to stop corruption in government and to get rid of the corrupt officials and employees.
Recently, top officers of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) were involved in the alleged pay-off by the gambling operator inside Clark after thousands of undocumented Chinese workers of the online gaming were apprehended and deported by the BI.
President Duterte ordered the dismissal of the LTFRB officials and employees in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila after it was uncovered that they granted certificates of public conveyance (CPC) to transport operators despite a moratorium. Unused or “dead” CPCs were re-issued to applicants for a consideration. The issuance of these CPCs tremendously increased the number of public utility vehicles on the roads resulting in humongous traffic in Metro Manila.
In Cebu, LTFRB 7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon boasts that under his watch the LTFRB here is graft-free. That’s good news Director Ahmed. We just hope that no derogatory report would later surface after what happened in Metro Manila.
In the case of the BI, Assistant Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles were suspended despite their claim that they received the P50 million cash from gambling tycoon Jack Lam as evidence of bribery from the gambling operator in Fontana inside Clark.
Lawyers Argosino and Robles are fraternity brothers of President Duterte and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. In a statement, Aguirre said he felt betrayed by what happened to Argosino and Robles. Apparently, it was Aguirre who recommended them to President Duterte.
The President, who is currently in Cambodia on a state visit, is yet to issue a statement on this issue. But judging from his promises during the campaign that there will be no coverup even if his children were involved in irregularities, I don’t think Argosino and Robles would be spared from the graft case.
Argosino and Roble lied through their teeth when they claim that they kept the money as evidence of corruption. The truth is if they were not caught on camera inside the restaurant of a hotel, they would have been silent as the holy night.
Worse, these two lawyers even implicated columnist Mon Tulfo, saying part of the money would be given to him. Wally Sombero, the man who handed the money to Argosino and Robles, denied he bribed the two officials. It was a pay-off, he said, for the release of the arrested Chinese.
As Torni Frank puts it in our radio program “Frankahay Ta” (dyCM 1152), if that money was intended as evidence, why did they gave Sombero P2 million as commission and P18 million to BI intelligence officer Charles Calima?
Argosino and Robles showed to media, in a press conference, only P30 million that they said they kept as evidence. Their theory was not convincing. Tell it to the marines! As my late law professor would say, “ayaw ko’g sultii.”
The crime of Argosino and Roble will put to test the promise of President Duterte to rid the government of corrupt officials and employees.