President Rodrigo Duterte vouched for Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero’s honesty even while he called out Guerrero’s former chief-of-staff (COS) for allegedly being corrupt.
In a taped public address aired on August 25, Duterte slammed former Customs COS Teodoro Jumamil for allegedly being corrupt and for working at the BOC even when he was still a director of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
“I have to name him publicly, for being… ano bang tawag ko sa iyo, sa Bisaya na lang. Put**** ***, balasubas ka eh. Alam mo bakit Bisaya ka? Ang mahirap sa iyo, sa panahon ko, you took advantage because you helped me… [Translation: I have to name him publicly for being corrupt and for taking advantage of my term because you had helped me.] I cannot understand why you are holding DBP director at the same time he was an employee of the Customs,” Duterte said.
Jumamil was formerly Guerrero’s COS starting the latter part of 2018 when Guerrero took over BOC. In March 2019, Jumamil was appointed as deputy commissioner of the Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group.
However, a complaint was filed with the Ombudsman last year against Guerrero, Jumamil, and two other BOC officials over the alleged illegal appointment of some officials in the agency. One of the points raised was that Jumamil’s appointment as deputy commissioner was illegal. Jumamil reportedly left BOC in July 2019.
The President also bared he had considered replacing Guerrero.
“I was considering… Jagger [Guerrero], I was considering of replacing you. Not because of anything, I can vouch na malinis ka [you are clean]. The problem is you do not entertain loyalties, especially in government. If you think that that idiot is going to destroy you, you destroy him first,” he added.
“I told him to fire Jumamil. But it took him quite about a lot of seasons to do it,” Duterte said, adding that he already told Guerrero “or through somebody” that Jumamil had been working at the airport for so long and that “napaka-corrupt ‘yan [he was so corrupt].”
A report surfaced last January that Guerrero would be replaced after Duterte supposedly offered his position to Davao City businessman William de Jesus Lima.
Duterte denied the report, saying he was still satisfied with the work of Guerrero.
