The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) has lined up several projects for 2017 designed to beef up workforce, improve systems, and modernize facilities and operations.
“For this year, we are looking at reorganizing and restructuring the whole bureau,” Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said in a speech on February 8 during the celebration of the agency’s 115th founding anniversary.
The customs commissioner said the hiring of new recruits and the promotion of old employees are among the bureau’s top priorities. About 3,230 vacant positions, or 52% of its total workforce, have yet to be filled, while a total of 1,426 personnel, some of whom have not been promoted in the past 30 years, are up for a promotion.
Faeldon said the BOC restructuring is aligned with the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), the new law that replaces the outdated Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.
BOC is also reviewing the agency’s possible exemption from the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) “to offer more competitive compensation and other financial benefits to make our employees become better motivated public servants.”
Former customs commissioners had also raised the idea of excluding BOC from the SSL to attract competent employees and fight corruption inside the agency.
On border security, Faeldon said BOC is purchasing 20 speedboats to aid its drive to secure territorial seas from smuggled contraband. BOC Enforcement Group deputy commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told PortCalls the purchase of the speedboats is included in the General Appropriations Act of 2017 and project bidding will be conducted by March.
Another plan is to construct new customs offices and rehabilitate existing ones. Faeldon said BOC is looking to repair and renovate BOC’s old Port of Manila building this year and is currently rehabilitating the Formal Entry Division office.
New customs buildings will also be constructed at Palawan and Legazpi ports this year, seen to serve as the design prototype for future customs facilities in the country, Faeldon said.
Another target is to construct this year a “state-of-the-art” Regional District Office building in Cebu. The customs chief said the structure “will promote user experience for both employees and stakeholders so as to provide a more efficient and exceptional service.”
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
