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Yogi Filemon Ruiz has been appointed acting Bureau of Customs commissioner
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He has been head of the BOC Enforcement and Security Services since 2017
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The ESS is in charge of the customs police
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Before joining BOC, Ruiz was regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Central Visayas
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Ruiz takes the place of Rey Leonardo Guerrero
Yogi Filemon Ruiz has been appointed acting Bureau of Customs commissioner, according to an oath of office that circulated on social media dated July 20.
His appointment was confirmed by Malacanang on July 21. “President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. swore into office yesterday 20 July 2022, Yogi Filemon Ruiz as Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Customs,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a statement.
Ruiz was previously BOC Director of Enforcement and Security Services in charge of customs police. He was in that capacity since 2017.
He takes the place of Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
Before his appointment at BOC, Ruiz was with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Central Visayas as regional director. He was with PDEA 7 for a year.
Ruiz’s former PDEA boss, Isidro Lapena, brought him to the BOC. Lapena was BOC commissioner from 2017-2018, and was relieved due to a case involving shabu (crystal methamphetamine).
Lapeña landed in hot water because of his initial denial of claims by PDEA chief Aaron Aquino and BOC official Lourdes Mangaoang that shabu with an estimated worth of P11 billion were supposedly contained in four magnetic scrap lifters. The lifters were found empty in a warehouse in Cavite. Lapeña, who has been promoted by Duterte to head the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority–-a position that comes with a Cabinet rank-–later admitted the drugs may have slipped past the BOC.
(Story updated on July 21, 3:33pm, to reflect Ruiz appointment in an “acting” capacity.)
