By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .
CUSTOMS Commissioner Isidro Lapeña Jr. has replaced the district collector of the port of Cagayan de Oro as investigators dig deeper into how over a hundred container vans were allegedly sneaked out of the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Investigators are also looking into cases of alleged shipment misdeclarations at the Tagoloan port.
Bureau of Customs spokesman and concurrent Manila port district collector Erastus Sandino Austria said Lapeña relieved Cagayan de Oro district collector Jamail Marohomsalic and ordered him to report to the Compliance Monitoring Unit of the Bureau in Manila. Lapeña’s order was signed this Aug. 8.
Austria said that means Marohomsalic is on “floating”status.
Marohomsalic was replaced by lawyer Floro Calixan who served as sub-port collector at the MICT in Tagoloan.
Mabette Llagas was sent here from the port of Mactan to replace Calixan at the MICT.
Calixan briefly served as sub-port collector at the MICT after Lapeña relieved collector Samsom Pacasum. Like Marohomsalic, Pacasum was also ordered to report to the Bureau’s Compliance Monitoring Unit under the commissioner’s office, following the discovery of the alleged unlawful removal of 146 container vans from the MICT.
Austria said Lapeña’s latest order was in connection with the investigation into the suspected involvement of customs bureau personnel here into the unauthorized movements of container vans out of the Tagoloan port.
Austria said the investigation is being conducted by a committee that includes the deputy customs commissioners for intelligence and enforcement.
Austria said the initial findings show a dozen containers had misdeclared contents, and at least 146 containers were unlawfully removed from the sub-port before the import entries were filed. He said there were 17 containers that were unlawfully removed without any import entries at all.
He said the investigating committee has already identified the customs bureau personnel who could be held responsbile.
The suspects, according to Austria, are facing administratively and criminal charges.
Initial cases were already filed against the owners and proprietors or managers of at least three consignees and brokers, he said.
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